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Georgia Tech Softball: Jackets face Florida State in pivotal series

ByAnthony Hartwig|
CONSUELO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - AUGUST 20: A Close up of tattered baseballs and softballs the players use to practice with on August 20, 2003 in Consuelo, Dominican Republic. Consuelo, which has ten programs for youths to learn and play baseball, is about 50 miles east of Santo Domingo. Of the ten programs, two provide housing for the players. One of which is Latin Baseball Academy, which was set up ten months ago by Luis Silvestre, a taxi driver in the Bronx, New York. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
CONSUELO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - AUGUST 20: A Close up of tattered baseballs and softballs the players use to practice with on August 20, 2003 in Consuelo, Dominican Republic. Consuelo, which has ten programs for youths to learn and play baseball, is about 50 miles east of Santo Domingo. Of the ten programs, two provide housing for the players. One of which is Latin Baseball Academy, which was set up ten months ago by Luis Silvestre, a taxi driver in the Bronx, New York. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The Yellow Jackets look to continue their winning ways in the ACC as they host Florida State this weekend in a 3 game series.

The Yellow Jackets are stumbling into this series, an up and down weekend in California which included a loss to 4 win Santa Clara. The midweek didn’t bring Tech much luck either as Georgia State came for a mid-week showdown and walked away with a 3-2 win.

The Jackets have been struggling to keep momentum after grabbing early leads. In their last game against Santa Clara they had a 5-0 lead but watched it slip away as the game went on. Against Georgia State it was more of the same story, as Tech grabbed the quick 2-0 lead but weren’t able to build on the momentum and eventually lost the lead and the game.

Ace Emily Anderson has been up and down, she started the GSU game off great throwing 4 innings of no hit softball. Then in the 5th she gave up her first single, a pretty good pitch that the Panther hitter just had a good swing on. After her first hit surrendered however it seemed like she was trying to force locations, giving up a game tying 2 run home run that frankly just got way too much of the plate. 3 straight singles would set Georgia State up to take the lead in the 7th.

Tech comes into this series leading the ACC in walks, and that’s lead to about 30% more runs scored than at this time last season. Emily Anderson still has an ERA that is sub 2, even though not too long ago it was sub 1. So the numbers do back up Tech’s 5-1 ACC record. This weekend is a great opportunity to prove to everyone that the fast start wasn’t a fluke.

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Florida State has won the last 3 ACC Championships and are widely considered one of the best teams in the country. They’ve consistently competed for a chance to be in the WCWS and are a première program in the softball world. Their ace pitcher Kylee Hanson is among the top pitchers in the nation with an ERA of 0.80. She’s only given up 11 earned runs all season and tallies 129 strike outs already.

Hanson’s riseball might be the best Tech will see all season minus the half inning that Alexis Osorio pitched in the Alabama game. She gets a majority of her 129 strike outs up in the zone. However, what makes her great is the fact that she can work every inch of the strike zone if the situation calls for it. As a riseball pitcher she is more vulnerable to giving up home runs as she’s given up the most on the Seminoles staff.

Tech will also have to deal with Meghan King who has started 15 games and has an ERA of 1.32. She is opposite of Hanson as she likes to work down in the zone, bringing a nasty drop ball to the table, or should I say off the table. Someone that the Jackets won’t have to deal with is Florida State’s offensive leader in Jesse Warren, who has missed their last seven games. Warren was hitting .403 before being sidelined. The Seminole offense is still something to be respected even without Warren. They have scored 196 runs and have a team batting average if .294.

It will be an interesting pitching matchup this weekend. Emily Anderson has proven that she has the ability to pitch at the level of Kylee Hanson, but has struggled with consistency as of late. This home ACC series is a great opportunity for her to get back to the level of play she has shown in conference play so far. The Tech hitters need to be aggressive against Hanson as she loves throwing first pitch strikes.

The Jackets can’t afford to watch themselves get down 0-2 in the count. They also have to be able to lay off the pitches Florida State wants them to swing at. The Jackets have shown tremendous plate discipline this season and that will be the key to get their offense going.

Tech Keys to Victory:

Freshman play like seniors. The Tech freshman have been a huge bright spot for the team this year and in a big conference series they need to play it as any other game.

Consistent focus:

The Jackets have struggled with staying ahead in games because of lapses in focus, they’ll need to play a complete 7 innings to beat a team like Florida State.

Next: Jackets drop mid-week matchup to Georgia State

Pitching, pitching, pitching:

Florida State is a team that wins with their pitching, Tech can not lean on their offense, their staff will have to match the Seminoles during the innings the offense are struggling to get runs across.

The times for this weekend are Friday at 6:00, Saturday at 1:00, and Sunday at 1:00