TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State softball program enters its 34th season in 2017 and released its regular season schedule on Thursday, which includes 26 home games at JoAnne Graf Field with two tournaments to start the season in February. Fourteen of the 29 teams the Seminoles are scheduled to play in 2017 competed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Overall, Florida State will play against seven teams that were ranked in the final NFCA poll of the 2016 season, including four top-10 teams – No. 5 Michigan, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 UCLA and No. 10 Oregon. Along with Michigan, Florida and Oregon, the Noles will compete against Florida A&M and Florida Gulf Coast as teams that won their respective conference’s regular season or tournament titles a season ago.
“We always look to create a challenging schedule and I am excited for what lies ahead with these 56 games,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “We get to face quality opponents from all over the country in games at home, on the road and at neutral tournaments, and it will be fun to see how this team grows throughout the year as we compete against the best.”
The Seminoles open the season at home with the Unconquered Invitational on February 10-12. Lipscomb, Furman and Marshall will come to Tallahassee for a round-robin style tournament on the first day and a half, followed by a bracket stage competition at the end.
FSU stays at home to play Florida A&M on February 15 before hosting the second annual Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge on February 17-19 as Northwestern and Nebraska, along with Pitt, come to Tallahassee. Each school will play two games against each of the two teams from the other conference over the course of the weekend.
FSU will play at home against South Alabama on February 21 before making its first road trip of the season to California for the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs on February 23-26. During the four-day tournament, the Noles will play six games against six teams, including three that played in the NCAA Super Regionals in 2016 – Arizona, Michigan and UCLA. Florida State will also play nationally-ranked Texas A&M, as well as Stanford and San Diego State.
Returning home to Tallahassee, the Noles will begin their pursuit of a fifth consecutive ACC regular season championship as they host Georgia Tech on March 3-5. This marks the first season that ACC series will be played over three days (Friday-Sunday), instead of the previous schedule of a doubleheader on Saturday with a single game on Sunday.
After a home doubleheader against North Florida on March 8, FSU goes on the road for spring break, playing at Virginia Tech (March 10-12) and competing against Florida Gulf Coast and Canisius in the FGCU Tournament on March 14-15.
FSU and Notre Dame will meet for their conference series in Tallahassee on March 17-19, before the Noles hit the road for a game at UCF on March 22 and then at Virginia on March 24-26.
Pitt comes back to Tallahassee on March 31-April 2 and ACC play continues the next weekend on the road at Syracuse (April 7-9).
The Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown continues in 2017 with the annual matchup between FSU and Florida, beginning this season on April 12 in Gainesville, and wrapping up on May 3 in Tallahassee.
The Noles will play on the road at South Carolina in a two-game series on April 14-15 before heading to Troy for a pair of games on April 18.
The final ACC road trip of the year comes on April 22-24 as FSU heads to Louisville, before wrapping up conference play at home on April 28-30 against North Carolina.
Following the final home game of the year against UF on May 3, the Noles head west to Oregon for a three-game series on May 6-7 to close out the regular season.
The announcement of televised games will come closer to the beginning of the season. All regular season games at JoAnne Graf Field are free and no tickets are required.
Follow Florida State softball on Twitter (@FSU_Softball) and Instagram (fsusoftball), and like our Facebook page (Facebook.com/FSUsoftball) to keep up to date with everything about Seminole softball.
