GAMEDAY PREVIEW: Lady Indians begin quest for FCSAA D1 Championship
#6 Chipola will face #3 Indian River at noon CDT in Clearwater
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The 2025 FCSAA Division I Softball Championship got underway at Eddie C. Moore Complex on Tuesday night with the Wild Card Game. Gulf Coast, the #3 team from the Panhandle, defeated the Citrus Conference's #6 team and the NJCAA's 11th ranked team, Miami Dade, 1-0. The Lady Commodores will now move into the #8 seed in the double elimination bracket.
This year's tournament features seven nationally ranked teams with Gulf Coast being the only team outside of the top 25. #11 Miami Dade and #18 Daytona State will miss the double elimination tournament.
Four teams are among the top six in the nation. Florida SouthWestern (49-5) sits atop the poll. At 54-2, Northwest Florida is third with Indian River State (43-8) right behind them at fourth. Seminole State (42-16) is ranked sixth. The other teams ranked in the tournament are: #15 Santa Fe (34-21); #17 Eastern Florida (38-20); and #22 Chipola (30-18).
STATE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The Chipola Lady Indians (30-18; ranked 23rd NJCAA) will be the #6 seed at the FCSAA Division I Softball Championship in Clearwater, May 7-10. Chipola will take on #3 Indian River State College (43-8; ranked 4th NJCAA) at noon CDT in the first round on Wednesday.
Chipola is making its first appearance in the tournament since the 2022 season when Coach Kelly Brookins led the team to a 40-11 record in her first season as head coach. The Lady Indians' last win in the tournament came that season when Chipola eliminated Indian River in a 5-4 extra inning win on May 7, 2022.
Indian River comes into this year's tournament as not only the defending FCSAA Champions but also the defending NJCAA Champions. The Lady Indians fell to The River earlier this season, 5-0, in the Paradise Cove Tournament hosted by Florida SouthWestern in Fort Myers.
STAT BREAKDOWN
| TEAM | CHIPOLA COLLEGE | INDIAN RIVER STATE |
| Batting Average | .316 | .337 |
| On Base Percentage | .389 | .420 |
| Slugging Percentage | .458 | .474 |
| Home Runs | 23 | 25 |
| Earned Run Average | 4.20 | 1.78 |
| Strikeouts | 234 | 334 |
| Opponents' Batting Average | .271 | .215 |
| Leading Hitter (B.AVG) | Irene Rabasco (.413) | Kassidy Pontbriant (.429) |
| Leadin Pitcher (WINS) | Hannah Worthington (12-7) | J'dah Girigorie (32-2) |
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