FSU softball earns No. 3 national seed, hosts Tallahassee Regional starting Friday

Florida State enters the NCAA Softball Tournament as the No. 3 national seed and will host the Tallahassee Regional starting Friday.

The Seminoles (50-8) will play Marist (29-28) in a first-round game at 4 p.m., while UCF (39-19) faces South Carolina (37-20) at 7.

Marist won its fourth MAAC championship in program history Saturday, beating top-seeded Canisius 6-2. UCF clinched its second consecutive AAC Tournament title with a 9-1 run-rule win over Tulsa, while South Carolina, of the SEC, earned an at-large bid. Thought to be on the NCAA Tourney bubble, the Gamecocks helped their cause by advancing to the SEC Tournament title game, where they lost to Tennessee.

The winner of the double-elimination regional advances to the best-of-three Super Regional round.

More: Henry: FSU baseball deserves to celebrate its win over No. 1 Wake Forest at Howser Stadium

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More: Florida State softball's Sandercock, Alameda named ACC Pitcher and Coach of the Year

FSU, others looking to advance to Women's College World Series

The 64-team tournament, spread across the country, culminates with the Women's College World Series that begins June 1 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma is the tourney's No. 1 seed, followed by UCLA, FSU, Tennessee and Alabama.

The Seminoles watched Sunday's selection show on ESPN2 from coach Lonni Alameda's home.

FSU won the national title in 2018 and is making its 35th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Seminoles have played in a regional in each season under Alameda since her arrival in 2009.

FSU, winners of 16 consecutive games, is coming off a dramatic victory over Duke in Saturday's ACC Tournament Championship.

The Seminoles clinched their 19th ACC Championship title with a walk-off single from Bethany Keen in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Seminoles topped Duke, 2-1, at Notre Dame's Melissa Cook Stadium.

It marked FSU's second-ever walk-off to capture the title and the Seminoles’ second consecutive ACC Championship title; FSU walked off Pitt in 2018 to win the championship.

The 2023 Championship also marks the Seminoles’ eighth in the last nine tournaments. With the win, FSU earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

This is the 23rd consecutive season that Seminoles have advanced to an NCAA Regional.

Tickets for the Tallahassee Regional will go on sale on Seminoles.com Monday at noon.

Tallahassee Regional schedule

The Tallahassee Regional is paired with the Athens, Georgia Regional, hosted by No. 14 Georgia and also features Virginia Tech, Boston University and North Carolina Central.

The SEC led the way with five teams among the top 16. The Pac-12 had four seeded teams, while the Big 12 and ACC each had three.

2023 Tallahassee Regional Schedule

Friday

Game 1 - 4 p.m. Marist (Visitor) vs. Florida State (Home)

Game 2 - 7 p.m. UCF (Visitor) vs. South Carolina (Home)

Saturday

Game 3 – 1 p.m. (Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2)

Game 4 – 3:30 p.m. (Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2)

Game 5 – 6 p.m. (Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4)

Sunday

Game 6 – 4 p.m. (Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5)

Game 7 (If Necessary) – 6:30 p.m.

NCAA Softball Tournament regionals

Norman Regional

1. Oklahoma (1)

2. Missouri

3. California

4. Hofstra 

Los Angeles Regional

1. UCLA (2)

2. San Diego State

3. Liberty

4. Grand Canyon

Tallahassee Regional

1. Florida State (3)

2. UCF

3. South Carolina

4. Marist

Knoxville Regional

1. Tennessee (4)

2. Louisville

3. Indiana

4. Northern Kentucky

Tuscaloosa Regional

1. Alabama (5)

2. Middle Tennessee

3. Central Arkansas

4. LIU

Stillwater Regional

1. Oklahoma State (6)

2. Nebraska

3. Wichita State

4. UMBC

Seattle Regional

1. Washington (7)

2. McNeese

3. Minnesota

4. Northern Colorado

Durham Regional

1. Duke (8)

2. Campbell

3. Charlotte

4. George Mason

Stanford Regional 

1. Stanford (9)

2. Loyola Marymount

3. Florida

4. Long Beach State

Baton Rouge Regional

1. LSU (10)

2. Omaha

3. Louisiana 

4. Prairie View

Fayetteville Regional

1. Arkansas (11)

2. Notre Dame

3. Oregon

4. Harvard

Evanston Regional

1. Northwestern (12)

2. Miami (OH)

3. Kentucky 

4. Eastern Illinois

Austin Regional

1. Texas (13)

2. Texas St.

3. Texas A&M

4. Seton Hall

Athens Regional

1. Georgia (14)

2. Boston University

3. Virginia Tech

4. NC Central

Salt Lake City Regional

1. Utah (15)

2. Ole Miss

3. Baylor

4. Southern Illinois

Clemson Regional

1. Clemson (16)

2. Cal St Fullerton

3. Auburn

4. UNC Greensboro

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 3 national seed FSU opens Tallahassee Regional Friday vs. Marist