I know we are 1-5 & they are 5-1, and it's an away game on a Friday night, but I think the young talent starts to come together this week.

The first portion of Florida State softball's schedule was announced on Monday afternoon as the Seminoles will travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the first time in school history on Feb. 6-8.

The Seminoles will play the first game of the tournament against 2024 Women's College World Series participant Oklahoma State at 11 a.m. on Feb. 6. The Noles and Cowgirls have met 27 times with Oklahoma State leading the series 14-13. The two teams last met at the Women's College World Series in 2023 where FSU won in run-rule fashion by a score of 8-0 in five innings. The two teams will also close out the tournament on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.

For the first time in program history, FSU will play the Bears of Northern Colorado at 2 p.m. on Feb. 6. Northern Colorado finished the 2024 season 27-26 and were the Big Sky Conference Champions to qualify for its second consecutive NCAA Tournament.

The Seminoles will play two games against Louisiana Tech, one on Feb. 7 and once on Feb. 8. The two teams last met in 2019 and will meet for just the second time since 1997.

Tickets for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge are on sale and can be purchased here. All games will be streamed live by FloSports ($$).

Puerto Vallarta College Challenge schedule (all times EST):

Feb. 6
11 a.m. – Florida State vs. Oklahoma State
2 p.m. – Florida State vs. Northern Colorado
5 p.m. – Northern Colorado vs. LA Tech

Feb. 7
2 p.m. – Florida State vs. LA Tech
5 p.m. – Oklahoma State vs. LA Tech
8 p.m. – Northern Colorado vs. Oklahoma State

Feb. 8
2 p.m. – LA Tech vs. Northern Colorado
5 p.m. – LA Tech vs. Florida State
8 p.m. – Oklahoma State vs. Florida State

Florida State began Duke week in a different manner Monday morning. With the game at Duke set for Friday night, the Seminoles took to the practice field Monday morning in lieu of the normal Monday schedule, which has no practice and includes a press conference with coaches instead.

That wasn't the only change to FSU's practice this morning. FSU also used far less pumped-in music through the sound system during this practice. Mike Norvell said afterwards it was to challenge the team to see how the communication and leadership was and where the energy was coming from within the team on the practice field.

Here are the observations from Monday morning's FSU practice:

• I thought Monday's practice was one of the better for the passing game in recent memory. In 1-on-1s, the receivers made plays at a very high level. Malik Benson twice beat Azareye'h Thomas on underneath routes. Luke Kromenhoek hit a beautiful deep ball in stride to Ja'Khi Douglas. Jalen Brown made a great play slowing down for a slightly underthrown deep ball and making a leaping catch through contact. That playmaking also carried over into 11-on-11 work. Brock Glenn connected with Malik Benson a few times over the middle of the field and threw a beautiful deep ball to Hykeem Williams on an outside post route which Williams caught above his head. Kromenhoek connected three times in quick succession with fellow true freshman Elijah Moore during this final 11-on-11 segment. The first catch was a ridiculous grab on a pass that appeared too far above his head to be snagged but was with Moore's long arms. The second was a ball up the seam in stride to Moore for a chunk play. The third was over the middle of the field. That Kromenhoek to Moore connection has been a constant throughout preseason and the first half of the season, but Monday's practice was one of the better days we've seen of that.
• Both the quarterbacks made some high-level throws, limited mistakes and operated the offense well on Monday. Glenn had a scramble during 11-on-11 that earned quite a bit of praise from Norvell, who delivered a "Good job, Brock" after the run. Kromenhoek's versatility of arm angles (he showed off a sidearm-ish delivery to get a pass off around pressure Monday) is impressive for a true freshman.
• The freshman running backs also made some wow plays during Monday's practice. In the middle 11-on-11 period, Kam Davis trucked Shyheim Brown, lowering the shoulder and running over the veteran safety. In 1-on-1 receiving drills, Micahi Danzy caught a pair of deep balls by using his speed to blow past his defender and then adjusting well to the ball in the air for a pair of contested catches while falling to the ground.
• Marvin Jones Jr. had a "sack" of Glenn during 11-on-11 work. During the first team period, Darrell Jackson and Kevin Knowles had pass breakups at the line of scrimmage on consecutive plays. Fentrell Cypress had an interception in the end zone during good-on-good goal-line work.