Softball Season Update: Lady Indians sit 3rd in Panhandle

MARIANNA, Fla. – The Lady Indians wrapped up their first round of conference doubleheaders on Saturday and find themselves in the middle of the pack with 12 Panhandle games remaining.

With a conference record of 4-4, Chipola is one game out of second place. The 12-team Citrus Conference will send their top five teams to the State Tournament while the Panhandle Conference receives two automatic berths. The third-place team from the Panhandle will participate in a play-in game with the sixth-place team from the Citrus Conference to determine the eighth State Tournament participant.

In the first time through the schedule, Chipola fell in game one and came back for a game two win to split every doubleheader. Overall, the Lady Indians are 22-16 with wins over the numbers one, two, four, seven, and ten teams in the NJCAA Softball Rankings.

March 15 @ Tallahassee

GM 1: TCC defeated Chipola, 4-3

GM 2: Chipola defeated TCC, 6-4

Amari Brown pitched three innings of scoreless relief but the Lady Indians could not overcome an early 3-1 deficit as they fell 4-3 in their Panhandle Conference opener. Brown and EmmaLee Essary had home runs in the first game to lead Chipola's offensive attack.

The Lady Indians bounced back in game two to secure their first conference win. In the circle, Anyela Ruiz (8-2) struck out 8 in 6.2 innings pitched before giving over to Brown with two outs in the seventh. Brown (S-3) entered with the bases loaded and fielded a comebacker to seal the win and pick her up third save.  with 8 strikeouts Amari Brown came on to get one out and earn her third save. At the plate, Brown was 2 for 3 with a second home run on the day. Ruiz was 4 for 4 with a double and a triple. Diana Arcay finished the game 3 for 4 with a double and triple and two RBIs.

March 20 vs #10 Gulf Coast

GM 1: Gulf Coast defeated Chipola 9-1

GM 2: Chipola defeated Gulf Coast 10-0

The Lady Indians fell behind early in the first game with the Lady Commodores and suffered a 9-1 run-rule loss in game one.

Amari Brown (6-5) took the circle in game two for Chipola and pitched 5 scoreless innings allowing only an infield hit to propel the Lady Indians to a run-rule victory of their own. Diana Arcay was 2 for 2 with a three-run home run, her second of the season. Amari Brown drove in two runs and finished the game 2 for 2 with a double. Chipola scored 7 runs in the fifth to the game early. EmmaLee Essary walked off the Lady Commodores with her 7^th home run of the season. She finished the game 2 for 3 with 4 RBIs.

March 23 @ Pensacola State

GM 1: Pensacola State defeated Chipola 4-3

GM 2: Chipola defeated Pensacola State 12-5

The Lady Indians took an early 2-0 lead in game one on EmmaLee Essary's eighth home run of the season. After the Pirates came back to take a 3-2 after six, Essary led off the seventh inning with her second home run of the day. Chipola couldn't keep the Pirates off the board in the bottom half of the inning as a leadoff walk scored on a one out double.

In game two, Chipola would once again take an early lead but kept the pressure on as they overpowered the Pirates in the end for a 12-5 win. Diana Arcay was 3 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and drove in half of the Lady Indians' runs. Addison Carter drove in three runs and finished the game 2 for 4. Anyela Ruiz started in the circle for Chipola and pitched 4.1 innings striking out 4. After Pensacola tied the game 5-5 in the fifth, Harley Daniels entered the game and kept Pensacola from scoring the rest of the game. She picked up her first collegiate win with 2.2 innings pitched by allowing just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out one.

March 30 vs #2 Northwest Florida

GM 1: Northwest Florida defeated Chipola 9-4

GM 2: Chipola defeated Northwest Florida 6-5

Amari Brown put the Lady Indians up 2-0 in the bottom of the first with her eighth home run of the season. After the Raiders scored four in the top of the second, Chipola fought back to tie the game with a pair of single runs in the bottom of the second and third innings. The Raiders would put up another four-run inning in the fourth then add a single run in the seventh to take the 9-4 win.

Amari Brown picked up her seventh win of the season with a complete game in which she allowed six hits and one walk while striking out 3. Trailing 3-0 with two outs in the seventh, Northwest Florida rallied with five runs to take the lead going into Chipola's final turn at-bat. After Lexie Spooner drew a leadoff walk, Anyela Ruiz hit her first home run of her collegiate career to tie the game. With one out, Akyndra Motalvo walked and Brown doubled. After Diana Arcay was intentionally walked to load the bases, Gracie Suggs singled through the drawn-in infield to give the Lady Indians the 6-5 win.