North Carolina State University Athletics
Softball Starts ACC Play at Home Against FSU This Weekend
3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State softball team will begin ACC play this weekend with a three-game home series against Florida State. On Saturday, March 3, the two teams will clash at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., before meeting at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 4. All games will be played at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex. Live stats will be available on GoPack.com via a link on the softball schedule page.
NC State stands at 12-5 on the year after sweeping a home doubleheader against Elon on Thursday, March 1. Last weekend the team offered a 3-3 showing at the 2007 Hampton Inn Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala. During the tournament, the Pack dropped its first two games against Indiana State and No. 5 Alabama, only to rally back and clinch a spot in the title bout with wins over Western Kentucky, Winthrop and Indiana State in a rematch. The Wolfpack fell a second time to the Crimson Tide, 6-0, in the championship game.
Florida State, currently ranked No. 19 nationally in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25, enters the weekend with an 11-5 record. The Seminoles have dropped three games in a row and four of its last five. The last time FSU took the field, Wednesday, Feb. 28, they dropped two games to No. 9 Michigan in Tallahassee, Fla.
In a series of runs by each school, the Pack trails the Seminoles 4-5 in overall meetings between the two programs. Florida State won the first three contests, before NC State bounced back with three of their own. FSU then took two straight, before the red and white beat them in the ACC Championship game last season.
NC State posts a 2-1 all-time record in ACC season openers, downing North Carolina in 2004 and Boston College in 2006. Florida State gave the Pack its only ACC opening loss in 2005.
Following the FSU series, NC State will travel to Clearwater, Fla. to compete at the USF adidas Invitational, Thursday, March 8 - Sunday, March 11. On Thursday the Pack will take on Villanova at 11 a.m., before battling Mercer at 1 p.m.
