Lady Indians fall in FCSAA Championship; another shot at NJCAA Tournament coming up on Saturday
#22 Chipola and #15 Santa Fe will meet at 9 AM CDT on Saturday
CLEARWATER, Fla. – After two straight days of comebacks at the FCSAA D1 Softball Championships, the Lady Indians (32-19) finally faced a deficit they could not overcome.
Chipola fell in the FCSAA DI/NJCAA South Atlantic District A Championship Game, 7-3, to #1 Florida SouthWestern on Friday afternoon. With the win the Bucs move on to the NJCAA Tournament in Yuma, Arizona on May 19-24.
The Lady Indians will have one more shot at receiving a berth in the tournament when they face Santa Fe Saturday morning in the NJCAA South Atlantic District B Championship Game.
GAME RECAP
One day after tallying 13 hits in their semifinal win over Eastern Florida State, the Lady Indians had a tough time getting anything started offensively. Through five innings, Chipola had managed just one hit, a Diana Arcay single in the first inning, off the FSW starter.
Chipola finally got the bats going in the fifth inning after seeing 11 straight hitters go down in order. Trailing 6-0 in the sixth inning with one out, Kayla Franklin and Diana Arcay had back-to-back singles. Anyela Gomez Ruiz stepped to the plate and blasted a home run to dead center to cut the Bucs lead in half.
Chipola would not have another baserunner the rest of the game and the Bucs would add a run in the bottom of the sixth to produce the 7-3 final.
GAME NOTES
- Sophomore Diana Arcay added two more hits to her tournament total. She is now batting 7-10 (.700) with a pair of doubles and a home run. She has knocked in five of Chipola's eight runs in the tournament.
- Chipola will face #15 Santa Fe College (37-22) in Saturday's NJCAA South Atlantic District B Championship Game. The Lady Indians and the Saints have not faced one another this season. The last time the two teams met was in the Courtney Miller Invitational on February 24, 2024. Chipola fell 4-3 in that game after allowing two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give the Saints the late lead.
- Santa Fe eliminated the other two Panhandle teams in the tournament. On Friday, the Saints took down Gulf Coast, 5-2, and then on Friday evening they defeated Northwest Florida, 9-4.
- Chipola will be facing their fourth consecutive ranked opponent when they take on the #15 Saints. Chipola defeated #4 Indian River, 2-1, on Wednesday then took down #17 Eastern Florida, 6-5, on Thursday.
#ROAD2YUMA
The #Road2Yuma is simple now. The Lady Indians must defeat Santa Fe to keep their season alive.
STATE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
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