The word "bad" gets very misconstrued at Florida State.

It seems that if something goes wrong with a team the collective opinion is that the season is over or that the team is deemed "bad."

Sitting at 21-9 and 4-2 in early ACC play, No. 18 FSU softball is not a "bad" team. It's not even an average team. It's still one of the top 25 squads in the country.

After two appearances in the last three seasons in the Women's College World Series, both seeing the Seminoles get to the championship series, the standard for success is very high from the fans.

After nearly every loss this season, I've gotten texts saying how bad the softball team is or something along those lines and it's just not true.

FSU head coach Lonni Alameda even said earlier this month that while the Seminoles are in the process of figuring things out, they're ignoring noise on social media.

"We're still trying to figure ourselves out a little bit." Alameda said.

"So I think the one thing that we're trying to talk about with our circle is just handling the outside conversations right now on social media and media, in general, is just how do you go from this top spot to falling in the rankings [from last season] and having bad games."

There's got to be an understanding of where the program is right now.

FSU is not the same team as it was last year, mainly because it's retooling its pitching.

FSU softball is still building a pitching identity

The Seminoles didn't just graduate Kathryne Sandercock, who held a career ERA of 1.36, but basically their entire rotation from last season.

Mack Leonard and Ali DuBois usually pitched alongside Sandercock, which played a major role in FSU's constant success in the circle. With all three gone, its pitching room is four underclassmen and two seniors.

Senior Allison Royalty has stepped up as the Seminoles' go-to arm, but the support behind her is still young and developing.

Sophomore lefty MaKenna Reid has also taken a step forward from last season with a team-leading 2.23 ERA and 53 strikeouts.

This is a pitching rotation that will be good in a year or two but is still very young and is still adjusting to a college tempo.

Seminoles are staying competitive, bats are hot

Outside of losses to Charlotte, Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville, FSU's shortcomings have been against the top teams in the country.

Texas, Duke, Alabama, UCLA and Georgia are all top-tier programs and WCWS contenders.

Don't forget that the Seminoles have wins over Stanford and Duke this season. They've also taken care of business in the ACC, outscoring Pittsburgh 40-11 in their most recent weekend series and rattled off three straight wins.

FSU has also had no issue hitting the ball, batting .343 as a team, which is .081 higher than its opponents.

Freshman Jaysoni Beachum is hitting the ball better than anyone else and earned national recognition for it, batting .479 in 94 at-bats. She ranks second in the ACC in hitting.

Michaela Edenfield and Amaya Ross are both batting over .370. Edenfield has a team-leading nine home runs.

The Seminoles are sitting in fourth place in the ACC behind Virginia Tech, Duke and Clemson.

After romping Pittsburgh it has the chance to do the same against 12th-place NC State this weekend, who's gone 4-6 in its last 10.

FSU is heavily favored in its next eight games, which will allow it to find a rhythm, put some big numbers on the scoreboard and build confidence back in this fanbase.

The Seminoles aren't what they were last year, but are far from bad. Any sort of call for a coaching change should be completely ignored.

Alameda knows what she's doing and has kept FSU at the top of the college softball world for 14 years. If you see this season as a lull in light of recent success, expect a sound response very soon.

How to watch FSU softball vs. NC State

Who: No. 18 Florida State (21-9, 4-2) vs. NC State (18-13, 1-8)

When: Thursday, 6 p.m. at JoAnne Graf Field.

TV: ACCNX

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU softball is struggling. Why there's no reason to sound the alarm