Florida State softball player takes her base after most unusual hit by pitch
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The Florida State softball team is just getting going in 2026, and the Seminoles will surely have a lot of wonderful and maybe not so wonderful moments to talk about when this long journey of a season comes to a close.
But there will also be a very weird moment to cherish when the Noles look back on things in a few months, and it happened on Sunday afternoon during an ACC battle against Syracuse in Tallahassee. Florida State won the game itself, earning an 11-6 victory to complete a weekend sweep and boost its overall record to 25-4.
It was also a really nice way for the 10th-ranked Seminoles to start their ACC slate, as they were able to get off to a 3-0 start in conference play. But all those wonderfully gaudy numbers aside, there was that particular play that everyone will be talking about who was at the game or who watched it on ACC Network.
It came early on Sunday, in the bottom of the first inning that would see the Noles score 6 runs to take control of the game right away. Long before the fruitful inning was complete, with FSU already leading 2-0 with runners on first and second and still nobody out, Syracuse senior pitcher Julianna Verni unleashed a pitch that could barely be recognized as a pitch. It was instead a “bowling ball” type of deal, as the announcer said, after Verni appeared to hit her right leg when delivering the pitch.
So, instead of a normal pitch sailing toward the FSU batter, it rolled all the way to freshman catcher Anna Hinde, who patiently waited for the rolling ball to arrive at home plate. She let the ball hit her and calmly took first base on a hit by pitch as if there was nothing unusual about it.
The ACC Network announcer thought it might have been an illegal pitch, but there was Hinde, standing on first base, and the FSU softball social media account made light of the absurd play, applauding Hinde for hanging in there, so to speak: “Way to wear that one Anna,” was the headline with the post, with 4 laughing emojis along with it, of course.
Here is what will surely go down as one of the weirdest plays of the 2026 softball season:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
