GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Late game heroics from sophomore Kiley Shelton gave the No. 2-seeded Florida Atlantic softball team its first NCAA Regional win since 2016, a 5-4 victory over No. 3-seed Georgia Tech, in an eight-inning thriller on Friday afternoon.
 
The Owls (45-10) and the Yellow Jackets (27-23) went back-and-forth in the opening game of the Gainesville Regional with four lead changes in the final three innings. Facing two outs on the board and two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth, Shelton hit the game winning RBI single to right field for the walk-off win.
 
Junior pitcher Autumn Courtney made the start and received the win to improve to 24-3 on the season, pitching 5.1 innings before re-entering in the top of the eighth. 
 
THE BEGINNING 
Courtney picked up right where she left off from her previous stellar postseason outing, with three swing-and-miss strikeouts in the top of the first inning to retire the side.
 
A fourth strikeout from the First Team All-Region selection Courtney stranded Yellow Jacket runners on second and third base in the top of the second. Leading off the bottom frame, sophomore first baseman Bella Cimino launched a shot to left field, her sixth home run of the year, for the first score of the game.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Ciara Gibson blasted the ball to right center field for the Owls’ second leadoff home run of the game. The Yellow Jackets responded in the top of the sixth with three runs to take a 3-2 lead.
 
THE TURNING POINT
A two-out walk from freshman second baseman Destiny Johns put an Owl runner on base in the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles then ensued, first from Gibson then from Shelton in her first clutch hit of the game, to put FAU up 4-3.
 
Down to their last strike in the top of the seventh, a solo home run from the Yellow Jackets tied the score. Florida Atlantic was retired in the bottom half to send the game into extra innings, its first such game since the season opener.
 
THE FINISH 
Courtney returned to the circle to finish the job, stranding two runners on base to get out of the top of the eighth.
 
Johns reaching on a fielder’s choice set up the winning run. Gibson and Shelton remained the heroes of the game, with the former drawing the walk to advance Johns to second before the latter brought her home from second for a walk-off victory.
 
NOTES/NOTABLE

• The Owls now have 17 comeback wins on the season, tied for fourth most in the nation.
• Shelton is batting .444 in her last five games with six RBI.
• Cimino’s home run is the first by an Owl batter in an NCAA Regional game since May 21, 2016. It is the first multi-home run game by the team during an NCAA Regional in program history.
• With a base hit on the day, redshirt sophomore outfielder Kylie Hammonds has reached base in 24 consecutive games and 51 out of 55 appearances in 2025.
• Courtney has struck out 14 batters in two postseason appearances. 

 
UP NEXT
The Owls continue NCAA Regional play with a matchup against No. 1-seed Florida (44-14) on Saturday. First pitch is at 12 p.m. With a win on Saturday and Sunday, Florida Atlantic can advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history.
 
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For the Owls’ complete schedule, click HERE. To follow the team socially, visit @fausoftball, or for the most up-to-date information, go to www.fausports.com.
 
The Owls’ 2025 postseason is powered by Demand the Limits Injury Attorneys.
 

Fayetteville, Ark. — Seven runs in the sixth inning lifted the No. 24 Oklahoma State softball team to an 11-6 victory over Indiana at Bogle Park Friday. 
 
This is OSU’s 16th consecutive win in NCAA Regional play going back to 2019.
 
The Cowgirls never led until the sixth and trailed by as many as four runs in the fourth inning.
 
Karli Godwin homered twice for OSU on nearly identical two-run blasts to center field. She finished 3-for-3 with a career-high five runs batted in.
 
Perhaps the most critical at-bat of the game came in the sixth, when pinch hitter Audrey Schneidmiller singled through the right side to score Macy Graf from second and tie the game at six. A hard grounder from Rachael Hathoot two batters later drove in Schneidmiller and Tia Warsop to give the Cowgirls an 8-6 advantage before the game was blown open thanks to a run-scoring sacrifice bunt by Megan Delgadillo followed by an RBI single from Amanda Hasler. The Cowgirl scoring was capped when Schneidmiller walked with the bases loaded.
 
The seven-run sixth inning marked OSU’s most runs in an inning this season.
 
This marks the most runs scored by OSU in an NCAA Tournament game since 2022. With the win, the Cowgirls improved to 34-18, while the Hoosiers dropped to 33-19.
 
Rylee Crandall picked up the win and improved to 6-4. She entered the game in the fourth inning and kept the high-powered Indiana offense scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh. IU’s Brianna Copeland fell to 17-9 with the loss.
  
Offensive standouts for Oklahoma State included Godwin (3-for-3 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs), Davis (2-for-3 with three runs scored) and Schneidmiller (1-for-1 with 2 RBIs). 
 
The Cowgirls will face the winner of the Arkansas-Saint Louis matchup at noon tomorrow in the second round of the Fayetteville regional. 
 
For season-long coverage of Oklahoma State Softball, visit okstate.com and follow @CowgirlSB on X and @osusoftball on Instagram. For tickets, visit okstate.com/tickets or call 877-ALL-4-OSU. 
 
 

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7		R	H	E
Indiana	2	0	1	3	0	0	0		6	7	4
Oklahoma State	2	0	0	2	0	7	X		11	8	0

 
 
WP: R. Crandall (6-4) LP: B. Copeland (17-9); SV: None
HR: OSU – Godwin 2 (6,7)
HR: UT – Minnick 2 (18), Wilkison (7)
Duration: 2:28; Attendance: 2928
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Auburn vs. South Florida came to a head in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional. That’s with a call at the plate, which was upheld after review, keeping the game tied going into the final inning in the seventh.

With Annalea Adams at the plate, Josie Foreman threw it to third to get an out on Georgia Lessman, and actually hit her with that ball. Lessmann than took off to home where Foreman, with the ball thrown back to her, met her with an inning-ending out called in the bottom of the sixth instead of a run scored that would’ve given them a lead. The Tigers argued against it but, after review, the umpires maintained the out going into the seventh

#MAYhem already beginning in this Auburn / USF game

— Maria Trivelpiece (@M_Trivelpiece) May 16, 2025

Watching this USF-Auburn softball game…I have no idea what obstruction is. That looked to me like the definition of obstruction. If you’re blocking the plate before the ball arrives, that is obstruction and exactly what just happened. Glad I’m not Auburn

— Zach Huff (@GiMpChiLd) May 16, 2025

Clearly out at the plate but if by Defoe the rule that’s not obstruction then that’s a terrible call. Clearly was obstruction of the plate before the ball got there.

— Fan of the 5x National Champion Auburn Tigers (@_ethanlowrey_) May 16, 2025

Those were the reactions from those down on The Plains. The fans down in Tampa weren’t hearing it, though.

These Announcers are SEC homers and their getting on my nerves. I mean trying to give Auburn 7-6 lead when South Florida clearly got them out. that lady needs to just shut up.

— Leroy Larsen (@LALMCCGatorsfan) May 16, 2025

“The runner from first, Smith, wanted to draw a throw down to second base and instead they threw to the lead runner and hit Lessmann in the back,” explained the broadcast on ESPNU.

“The throw back from Foreman, it hits the runner and Auburn, being aggressive…Does she allow the lead edge of the base to be open without the ball? And it looks to me like she is indeed in obstruction category there. She does not have the ball. Once she has the ball, she can own the plate…Without the ball, she is in the baseline,” they continued on ESPNU. “She’s not in front of the leading edge but she’s very close to that leading edge, in my opinion…To me, as a catcher, you just don’t want to leave any doubt. You want to be in front of the plate and it’s very, very close.”

2025 NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket: Updated Regional matchups, scores, schedule

Tallahassee Regional

(5) Florida State
Robert Morris
Friday 2:30 p.m. ET – ACC Network

USF 12, Auburn 7 (F/9)

Auburn looked good against USF after the opening inning with a 5-0 start after a three-run home run this afternoon. The Bulls, though, battled back with two runs apiece in the second, third, and fifth to take a lead before this one went to extra innings. It was then at the top of the ninth that South Florida pulled away for good with five runs of their own, with a grand slam hit, to advance. The Tigers will instead then move into the loser’s bracket now with an elimination game coming tomorrow in Tallahassee.

Christina Lee, Senior Photographer

On Jan. 10 of this year, Ezekiel Larry ’26+1 was back in the transfer portal. While sitting in the Houston Airport after an official visit with a team in the Sun Belt Conference, Larry realized that there was only one program he truly wanted to play his final two years of college football for.

Although he first enrolled at Yale in 2022, this past January marked Larry’s second stint in the NCAA transfer portal. The former Bulldog star transferred to San Diego State after a stellar sophomore season at Yale. He arrived in Southern California in May, and by December he was already looking to take his talents elsewhere.  Ultimately, the seven months he spent away from Yale made him realize exactly what he had given up when he left New Haven.

“At Yale, we value and cherish the brotherhood and the culture and the connections,” Larry said.  “Coach Reno always talks about making genuine connections that are going to last a lifetime. Leaving, I didn’t realize how important those would be to me.”

Larry is one of hundreds of college football players who have utilized the freedom of movement granted by an NCAA regulation change in 2021.

Four years ago, the NCAA Division I Council’s new legislation allowed all Division I student-athletes the one-time opportunity to transfer and play right away, enhancing players’ freedom of movement. Previously, NCAA rules required student-athletes who transferred to a new Division 1 school to sit out for a season before competing.

Considering that Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships or name, image and likeness collectives — donor-funded groups that channel money to athletes for promotional opportunities — many expected Ivy football programs to lose players in droves.

Name, image and likeness collectives — or NIL — help athletes monetize themselves, and often have close relationships with the universities since they raise funds from donations, boosters, alumni and local businesses. For many college football coaches with such relationships, promises of NIL payments and deals have been used as recruiting tools to convince top players to join their programs through the transfer portal.

Despite the allure of these deals, players have not left en masse from Yale and other Ivy League schools. Larry’s departure from Yale football was an outlier, and he returned to the team after just one season away.

Yale play-by-play and ESPN+ announcer Justin Gallanty has seen the continuity of the Bulldog football program first-hand, having called almost every single one of their home games since 2021.

“Guys come to Yale or any other Ivy League school for a reason: they want to play football at a really high level and they want an Ivy League degree,” Gallanty told the News. “It’s not like other places where you’re going there probably hoping that you can elevate your status to the point that you can play in a Power Four league. Nobody comes to Yale with the intention to transfer.”

In the last four years, only three Yale football players have left before graduating. Breylan Thompson, formerly a member of Yale’s class of 2028, joined Stanford this spring and Aidan Warner, once in Yale’s class of 2027, returned home to the Sunshine State when he transferred to the University of Florida last winter after not playing in his first-year season.

Similarly, Harvard and Dartmouth saw no players depart before their graduation after last season, according to On3 Media, a company that tracks transfer portal activity across Division 1 football.

Comparing these statistics with non-Ivy League schools such as Duke — which had seven non-seniors in the transfer portal in 2025 and five first years alone looking to transfer in 2024 — distinguishes Yale and the Ivies from other college football programs around the country.

In 2025, Thompson was the lone Eli to depart from New Haven. Meanwhile, the 2025 National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes saw nine players leave this year before graduating.

‘A 40 year decision, not a four year decision’ 

Team members told the News that football head coach Tony Reno and the historic legacy of the team that he leads also contribute to the overwhelming number of players who choose to play all four years in the blue and white.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this program. Coach Reno is the most transformational leader and coach that I’ve had an opportunity to ever be around,” senior wide receiver Mason Shipp ’25.5 told the News. “Playing in the historic Bowl and at a historic university has been an honor and no one takes it for granted.”

In his 12 seasons at the helm, Reno has built a program that has become an in-conference powerhouse. He has guided the Bulldogs to Ivy League Championships in four of the last seven seasons, and three of the last six Ivy League Player of the Year winners have repped the “Y” on their helmets.

While Reno is committed to the team’s winning record, he and his staff are also focused on their players’ development off of the field.

“A lot of coach Reno’s ideology is about developing you as a person more so than as a football player,” Larry said. “He has built such a disciplined culture that revolves around brotherhood.”

Larry’s time at SDSU highlighted the disparities between the way Reno and his counterparts lead their respective programs. During his first year at Yale, when Larry was feeling homesick, he would go into Reno’s office and cry with him, he told the News. At SDSU, however, his relationship with his head coach was sparing. According to Larry, he never even obtained SDSU’s head coach’s phone number. SDSU’s head coach did not reply to the News’ request for comment.

Besides the opportunity to play for Reno and contribute to the 152-year legacy of Yale’s football program, many players also choose to stay at Yale because of the opportunities that an Ivy League degree affords them.

“When you come to Yale you make a forty year decision, not a four year decision,” Gallanty, the ESPN+ announcer, said. “The value of a Yale degree is going to outweigh whatever you can get in NIL money at this point in your life.”

Sophomore sensation Abu Kamara ’27, for example, chose to forego the transfer portal this past spring and remain an Eli. After a second-year campaign that qualified him for the First Team All-Ivy, an honorable mention in the Associated Press’ College Football All-American list and the Buck Buchanan Award’s finalist list for National Defensive Player of the Year in Division I FCS, Kamara had the opportunity to take his talents to a more competitive program.

He told the News that teams in the ACC and Big Ten expressed interest in recruiting him and offered “somewhere upwards of six figures” in NIL money to play for them, though he did not specify exactly which schools. Nonetheless, Kamara determined that he could not put a price tag on a Yale diploma and the prestige of being a future alumnus of the University.

“My decision to stay was more to help my life after football,” Kamara said. “The Yale degree is a great life insurance policy. It can set you and your family up for life. I wanted to change the trajectory of my family and there would be no better place than staying here and doing that.”

The 2025 football season will begin at the Yale Bowl against the Holy Cross Crusaders on Sep. 20.

Will Forbes contributed reporting. 

Kirby Smart has a plan for paying players through NIL, but it won’t go far without collective bargaining.

PublishedMay 16, 2025 3:12 PM EDT•UpdatedMay 16, 2025 3:12 PM EDT

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Copy Link

We could be days away from a judge in California approving the House settlement that will change college athletics once again. For Georgia’s Kirby Smart, his approach to NIL and how much players should make is pretty simple, at least in his eyes. 

While commissioners and athletic directors continue to lobby for congressional help when it comes to the rules that will govern this new system, the problem is that we are so far down the road that it’s hard to turn the car around and fix certain problems. 

One of those problems is where we are with NIL, and how this was never an endorsement situation.  It was more so a pay-for-play arrangement under the disguise of finding deals for athletes when they enroll at a particular school. 

In his eyes, Kirby Smart just wants what is fair for the older athletes that might have a name big enough to make money from a school, or is up on the pecking order that is actually benefits the roster as a whole when trying to decide on how much money each player is actually worth. 

Charles Barkley Says Whether ‘Legal Or Illegal,’ He’s Done More For Auburn Than Other Athletes. Don’t Call Him

The problem is that the market is still fluctuating, with players signing for more money now than they did when NIL was first introduced. Also, with the pace at which Congress acts, the Georgia coach doesn’t see an easy solution on the horizon. 

“Very little has happened. It just shows you how hard it is to make changes and correct things, probably when they’re needed, because … people have talked about Congress. That’s not easy. Not a lot gets done quickly there and where we are right now,” Kirby Smart said to Paul Finebaum. “Like, I think every coach agrees we’re in a good place with being able to compensate players. Call it pay for play, call it NIL, I don’t care what you call it. 

“We’re all in a good place for that. We just want it to be in a way that’s sustainable. I just want to be able to have a freshman come in and not make more than a senior and I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive. You know, we’re on the brink of probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports. What’s the pushback going to be then when you start cutting non-revenue sports? I don’t want that to happen.”

Kirby Smart Is Worried About Other Sports Making The Cut

He makes a good point about cutting sports, and we are currently headed down a path of schools having to make tough decisions on how to save some of these programs. When the House settlement is approved, athletic departments will split roughly $20.6 million between the programs on each campus. Most of this money will go to football, from anywhere between $14 to $17 million, depending on what each school prioritizes. 

And let’s be honest, football is paying the bills on campus, especially when you add the television contracts to the equation. The comments from Kirby Smart come just a few days after high school prospect Jackson Cantwell agreed to play at Miami, with a contract reportedly around $2 to $2.5 million for his first season. 

I don’t see any problems with what Kirby Smart is saying, but to get to a place where you can have a pay-grade scale for players, you would need to setup a collective bargaining. And I don’t see that taking place any time soon. 

So for now, the Georgia head coach will have to continue attacking the NIL aspect of college athletics the same way he has since it was first started. 

And if he doesn’t want to match an opposing school’s offer, that’s his priority. Kirby Smart has won national titles doing things his way in the past, and I don’t see why that would stop any time soon.