Clearwater, FL

#3 Sante Fe (44-14, 28-12) played their second round vs #2 Northwest Florida State (54-4, 18-2) in the second round of the 2026 FCSAA DI Softball Championship held at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Florida.

The Saints played Northwest Florida State last season in the losers bracket semifinals after both teams dropped their opening round game. Both the Saints and Raiders battled through Bracket B before the Saints beat the Raiders 9-4.

The Saints started the same 9 defensively as they did in their opening round matchup vs Miami Dade, a game they won 5-1 to advance another day in the FCSAA DI Softball Championship. 

The Saints started off hot at the plate as Molly Bender led off with a double as she advanced to third on a groundout by Sydney English and was brought home on an error by the Raiders left fielder. The Saints led as they took the field in the bottom of the first 1-0.

Belle Mancillas entered the circle first for the Saints, starting for the second consecutive day. She navigated two hits but was able to get back to the dugout with a 0 and two strikeouts; the Saints led 1-0 after one inning. 

Haylee McCrea walked to lead off the second inning as Tegan Grizzard uses her speed and beats out a bunt. They both move to scoring position as Rylie Blankenship moves them over but the Saints are unable to capitalize in the top half of the second. 

Mancillas works a scoreless second as Santa Fe enters the third frame ahead 1-0. 

The Raiders take advantage of a big two out hit to score a pair as they take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. 

The Saints come back out strong after facing their first deficit of the Tournament after McCrea singles and then beats the throw to second after Grizzard bunts for the second time in the same amount of at-bats. Bender steps up with two outs and battles to a 3-2 count and works a walk to load the bases but the Saints strand them loaded. 

The Raiders threaten again in the fourth inning as they load the bases with 0 outs and are able to push two across to extend their lead to 4-1. 

English rips a single up the middle to put her aboard as Murch is inches from clearing the fence as she hits her second double of the afternoon. Laura Pierce scores on a sacrifice fly from Ellie Frierson to cut the Raiders lead to 4-2 midway through the 5th inning. 

The Raiders answer Santa Fe's run and get six of their own in the bottom half of the 5th inning to extend their lead to 10-2 on two hits and two errors. 

Mancillas ends the day with the loss (17-6) going 4.1 innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits with 3 walks and 4K's. Miranda Murch went 2-3 as the Saints left 8 runners on base. 

The Saints fall to #2 Northwest Florida State 10-2 and will play Indian River at 10:00am on Friday, May 15th at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Florida. The winner of that game will advance to the Bracket B semifinals to be played Friday night at 7:00pm. The semifinal winner will then turn around to play Saturday morning at 10:00am vs the loser of the Bracket A final which will be played Friday at 4:00pm. 

The games will be streamed live on the FCSAA Digital Network. Updates will be posted to the end of each game's story and will also be reflected on the FCSAA DI Softball Championship Page here.