GAMEDAY PREVIEW: #12 Lady Indians take the field against #20 Navarro
Chipola and the Bulldogs look to be a double-digit seed moving on in the winner's bracket
YUMA, Ariz. – Two teams that, according to the tournament seeding, shouldn't be playing in the NJCAA D1 Softball World Series winner's bracket today, will do just that when #12 Chipola (34-19) faces #20 Navarro College (26-25). First pitch from Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex in Yuma, Arizona, is set for 3:30 PM CDT/1:30 PM MST.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Chipola advanced to the third round by defeating #5 Chattanooga State, 2-0, on Monday. Anyela Gomez-Ruiz pitched seven shutout innings and Chipola's eight and nine hitters, Hannah Capps and Keyla Arce-Camacho, each drove in a run for the win.
The Bulldogs, the 20th seed of 24 teams, came into the World Series with a record below .500 and are the lowest ranked team remaining in the winner's bracket. They have quickly let it be known that records and seedings do not matter this time of the year. On Monday, Navarro took down #13 College of Southern Idaho, 5-1, and then on Tuesday, defeated #4 Grayson College, 2-0.
In their first game, Navarro used 11 singles to wear out CSI while getting a complete game 3-hit performance in the circle from sophomore pitcher, Baylee Sales.
Against Grayson, Sales once again threw a complete game and allowed only two hits in the shutout victory. A two-RBI double in the third inning gave the Bulldogs all the runs they needed to advance to today's game against the Lady Indians. In each game, Sales struck out nine.
Tournament Notes
- With a win, Chipola will advance to the semifinals of the winner's bracket on Thursday at 3:30 CDT/1:30 MST. The Lady Indians would take on the winner of #1 Florida SouthWestern and #9 Butler (KS). Should the Lady Indians fall to Navarro, they would turn around and play again this evening at 8:00 PM CDT/6:00 PM MST against the winner of #11 Wallace State – Hanceville (AL) and #14 Southern Union (AL).
- All three teams from the FCSAA advanced to the third round of the winner's bracket. On Tuesday, #3 Northwest Florida defeated #14 Southern Union, 2-0, and #1 Florida SouthWestern rallied from a 7-0 deficit to take down #17 Crowder, 11-8.
- FSW will play #9 Butler at the same time as Chipola and Navarro. NWF will go up against #6 Odessa (TX) at 5:45 PM CDT/3:45 PM MST. If all FCSAA teams win today, they will makeup three of the four teams remaining in the winner's bracket. The winner of #7 Gaston (NC) and #18 Rose State (OK) will make up the fourth team.
- The tournament's #2 seed, McLennan Community College (TX), has already been eliminated from the tournament. The Highlanders fell in their first game on Tuesday, 6-4, to #18 Rose State then turned around and lost to #16 McCook Community College (NE), 11-6.
- Live streaming for the tournament now switches from the NJCAA Network to ESPN+. You will need a subscription to ESPN+ in order to watch the games. For more information about how to subscribe, go to Live Streaming – ESPN+.
NJCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
World Series Tournament Bracket
Game Schedule, Results, & Stats
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