Clearwater, FL

#3 Sante Fe (45-14, 28-12) played their third game of the 2026 FCSAA DI Softball Championship vs #4 Indian River (44-17, 27-13) held at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Florida.

The Saints had beaten The River three out of the four times they played this season; splitting in their first matchup in Gainesville and then sweeping them on the road about a month later. The Saints dropped the first of four matchups then proceeded to win the next three. 

Both teams come into this round with one loss, forcing them to be on the verge of elimination in the B Bracket. The Saints began the Championship on Wednesday with a 5-1 win vs #6 Miami Dade but lost 10-2 to #2 Northwest Florida State the following day to push them to the B Bracket. Indian River dropped to #5 Eastern Florida in the first round but was able to get past #8 Seminole State 6-5 to advance to another round in the B Bracket. 

Both teams have been ranked nationally all season long as both the Saints and The River have been inside the Top 5 (IRSC ranked #3, Week 1 February 23rd, SF ranked #4, Week 7 April 6th). In the final NJCAA DI Softball Rankings of the regular season, the Saints hold strong at #6 while The River checks in at #12. 

Mancillas makes her third start in as many days as she enters the circle first for the home Santa Fe squad. The River loads the bases in the top of the first inning and gets one run across before Molly Bender makes a stellar diving catch in center field to keep the River at just one run. 

The Saints answered in their half to tie it at 1-1 after Sydney English walked and McKenzie Cox singled. An errant throw on the single scored English and Cox advanced two bases to third. Ellie Frierson also singled through the right side to put the Saints up 2-1. Each run in the bottom half was scored with two outs. 

The River threatens again with runners on second and third with one out but a groundball to Hannah Hargrave at shortstop led into a wild 6-2-5-4-6 double play to end the inning and the scoring threat.

The Saints go down in order in the bottom half of the 2nd as the score remains 2-1 in favor of Santa Fe. 

The third inning begins with two IRSC runners on, but two soft contact flyouts and another stellar diving catch in center field by Bender keeps IRSC at one run through two and a half innings. 

The Saints tack on another three runs in the bottom of the third via RBIs from McKenzie Cox and Haylee McCrea to extend their lead to 5-1 after three innings. 

Mancillas puts up her third scoreless frame of the afternoon, and Sydney English adds to the Santa Fe lead with one swing of the bat as she goes over the fence to deep right center field for a solo homerun. 

The River responds with one of their own after a one out single pushes a run home. Mancillas strands a runner at second as the score holds 6-2 Santa Fe as they head to the bottom of the 5th inning. 

The Saints can't convert with the first two aboard in the bottom of the 5th so both teams remain in a 6-2 contest as we head to the 6th inning in Clearwater. 

A leadoff double for The River leads to a sacrifice bunt to put a runner at third with one out, but the runner is stranded at third. The Saints are scoreless in the bottom half of the 6th as we head to the 7th inning with the score 6-2 Santa Fe. 

A leadoff triple scores one for The River, but Mancillas finishes the complete game going 7.0 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 2 BB and 1K. Cox, Frierson, and English all tab a multi-hit game as the Saints are off to the B Bracket semifinals later Friday night at 7:00pm. 

They will face the winner of the Eastern Florida vs Miami Dade game who play at 1:00pm. 

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.