In the forty-seven year history of the Seminoles softball program, the team has won nineteen ACC championships (winning both the regular season and tournament titles on fourteen of those occasions), two AIAW slow-pitch national championships, and one NCAA championship. Florida State has made thirty-five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, appearing twenty-three consecutive times, and advancing to the Women's College World Series on twelve occasions, reaching the semifinals on five occasions and the championship series on three occasions. Jessica van der Linden and Lacey Waldrop have won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award while thirty-six Seminole players have been honored as All-Americans[2] while seven have been drafted into the National Pro Fastpitch League and three have been drafted into the Women Professional Fastpitch League. Florida State coaches JoAnne Graf and Lonni Alameda have been inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame.[3]
The Seminoles play their home games at JoAnne Graf Field on the university's Tallahassee, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Lonni Alameda.
Program history
Florida State has been one of the most successful softball programs in the history of collegiate softball. As of the end of the 2023 season, only nine teams in the history of the NCAA have made more WCWS appearances than FSU, and no school east of Arizona has been to more NCAA Tournaments than the Seminoles. Florida State has made a regional appearance every year since 2000. Florida State has never endured a losing season and the Seminoles have achieved 39 forty-win seasons; under head coach Lonni Alameda, the Seminoles have achieved 13 forty-win seasons, including eight straight from 2012 to 2019, and won six consecutive ACC titles from 2014 to 2019.[4]
2018 season
The 2018 season saw the Seminoles win the ACC regular season title for the sixth consecutive year[5] and the ACC tournament title for the fifth consecutive year, defeating Pittsburgh in the ACC championship game with a walk-off homerun.[6] securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament as the sixth overall seed.
In the World Series, the Seminoles dropped their opener to UCLA[12] after blowing a late lead; they went on to win their next four games: defeating Georgia,[13] top-seed Oregon,[14] and UCLA[15][16] twice in the semifinals to advance to the national championship for the first time to face Washington. Florida State went on to sweep the Huskies to win the national title,[17][18] becoming the first team to lose their first game in the World Series and go on to win the title during the championship series era. The Seminoles also tied the record for most elimination game wins, going 6-0 over the course of the postseason.
Florida State plays home games at JoAnne Graf Field.
The softball team plays at the Seminole Softball Complex; the field is named for JoAnne Graf, the winningest coach in school history and the second-winningest coach in college softball history.[19]
Florida State has made 12 trips to the Women's College World Series, winning the title in 2018 and finishing as runner-up in 2021 and 2023; the Seminoles have advanced to the semifinals on five occasions, in 2002, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2023.
ACC Player of the Year – Toni Gutierrez (1992), Cindy Lawton (1995), Shamalene Wilson (1996), Jessica van der Linden (2003, 2004), Maddie O'Brien (2014), Alex Powers (2016), Jessica Warren (2017, 2018)
ACC Defensive Player of the Year – Jessica Warren (2017), Sydney Sherrill (2019, 2021, 2022)
ACC Pitcher of the Year – Sarah Hamilton (2009), Lacey Waldrop (2014, 2015), Jessica Burroughs (2016, 2017), Kylee Hanson (2018), Kathryn Sandercock (2023)
ACC Freshman of the Year - Shamalene Wilson (1993), Kristy Hull (1995), Jessica van der Linden (2001), Veronica Wootson (2004), Tiffany McDonald (2005), Monica Montez (2007), Jessica Warren (2015), Sydney Sherrill (2018)
ACC Coach of the Year – JoAnne Graf (1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004), Lonni Alameda (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023)
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