Eagles, Patriots set for showdown on softball diamond

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 2, 2015) – Tallahassee Community College's non-conference softball schedule will hit a crescendo on Tuesday when the Eagles travel to Ocala, Fla., to face NJCAA No. 2 and FCSAA No. 1 College of Central Florida. 

Game one of the doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. 

Winners of 15 of 18 to start the season, Tallahassee has already faced three nationally-ranked teams during the season's first month and owns, arguably, the best wins outside the region of any team in Florida – a sweep against NJCAA No. 4 Chattanooga State (Tenn.) Community College on February 21. 

Central Florida, meanwhile, can counter with, arguably, the best intra-region victories – the Patriots swept a pair of 10-2 games from NJCAA No. 5/FCSAA No. 2 Indian River State College on February 24, part of a 24-2 start to the season. 

Tuesday's meeting will be a rematch of the 2014 FCSAA State Championship Game, won by Tallahassee, 4-1. Both teams advanced to the NJCAA Tournament in St. George, Utah, and while the Eagles were eliminated in two games, the Patriots came through the loser's bracket and lost in the championship round to Angelina (Texas) College. 

Central Florida will be the fourth team from the 2014 NJCAA Tournament field to have appeared on the Eagles' 2015 schedule. In addition to sweeping Chattanooga State, Tallahassee beat Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College and lost to Southern Union (Ala.) State Community College. 

Tallahassee's pitching trio of Mariah Rivera, Alexandra Cook and Gabrielle Decker have a combined 0.92 ERA and have held opponents to a .189 batting average, fourth-best in the country. To say Tuesday will be a challenge could be an understatement – the Patriots lead the country in runs scored (202), home runs (33), RBI (178) and total bases (400). 

Following Tuesday's twin bill, Tallahassee will return home for a doubleheader against Florida State College at Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Friday.