Perennial Women’s College World Series contender Florida State begins its quest for Oklahoma City in Mexico.

The Seminoles open their 2025 campaign at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge where tournament bookending matchups with fellow WCWS hopeful Oklahoma State highlights the five-game slate from Feb. 6-8.

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Returning a talented roster of key players from last season’s Super Regional team, Florida State heads south of the border with an opportunity to put an immediate stamp on 2025. Here’s what to know about the Seminoles ahead of their excursion to the PVCC.

Florida State Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Schedule

• vs. Oklahoma State – Thursday, Feb. 6 at 11 a.m. ET
• vs. Northern Colorado – Thursday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. ET
• vs. Louisiana Tech – Friday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.
• vs. Louisiana Tech – Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m.
• vs. Oklahoma State – Saturday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.

FSU Softball Names to Know

Julia Apsel

After helping Hofstra to the 2023 NCAA Tournament with her All-Coastal Athletic Association Tournament performance, Julia Apsel was among the nation’s most consistent pitchers for the Pride in 2024.

Apsel earned All-CAA designation last year with a 1.39 ERA over 201 2/3 innings pitched, during which she mowed down 176 batters. Opposing hitters had a scant .226 average at the plate with Apsel in the circle. She also tossed a no-hitter in 2024. 

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The lefty transfer adds depth to an already impressive Florida State pitching rotation.

Jaysoni Beachum

Local star Jaysoni Beachum transitioned seamlessly to the college game, establishing herself as one of the nation’s top players in her freshman campaign. Beachum returns for her sophomore campaign as a leading contender for National Player of the Year honors after garnering D1Softball’s Freshman of the Year distinction in 2024.

The Tallahassee native led the Seminoles with a whopping .417 batting average, the 30th-highest in all of Div. I softball and fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Beachum plated a team-best 66 RBI, thanks in part to 16 home runs, and produced an on-base percentage of .509.

Ashtyn Danley

Emerging as Florida State’s ace pitcher in her freshman season, Ashtyn Danley acquitted herself well in Year 1. She worked 142 1/3 innings for the Seminoles, going 18-6 with 21 starts and 45 appearances.

She produced a 3.20 ERA with 101 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .244. Positioned to build off her strong collegiate debut, Danley returns poised for a sensational sophomore campaign.

Michaela Edenfield

Michaela Edenfield delivered quite the encore on her outstanding 2023 postseason. The ’23 All-WCWS honoree returned to lead the 2024 Seminoles in slugging percentage (.806), OPS (1.315), and match freshman phenom Jaysoni Beachum for a team-leading .509 on-base percentage.

Edenfield also smashed 15 home runs, tying graduated standout Kalei Harding for the second-most round-trippers on the team. All together, it earned her All-American recognition.

1. More. Month.😁😁😁#Team42 pic.twitter.com/zIuVNST4L8

— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball) January 6, 2025

Jazzy Francik

A headliner among Florida State’s impressive freshman class, Melbourne native Jazzy Francik arrives at Florida State with All-American accolades and Florida Player of the Year awards on her resume.

The right-hander Francik produced ERAs of 0.19 and 0.20 in the last two high school campaigns. Unhittable at the prep level, the PVCC will be an intriguing introduction to the college game for this dominant pitcher.  

Amaya Ross

After finding her niche in 2023 as a speed demon with 22 stolen bases, Amaya Ross worked her way into the starting rotation as a junior and broke out.

Ross continued to fuel the Florida State offense with her base-running, swiping 28 bags – tied for 21st-most in the nation – while also developing into a dangerous hitter. Ross batted .322 and was one of five Seminoles to one-dot for the season with a 1.061 OPS.

Her .610 slugging percentage was fourth-best among all Florida State hitters, and her 61 runs scored led the team.

Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Opponents

Louisiana Tech

The Lady Techsters enter their fifth season under the direction of coach Josh Taylor, a two-time Conference USA Coach of the Year. Taylor guided Tech to a regular-season conference title in 2022, and the program has won at least 32 games in each of the last three seasons.

Louisiana Tech returns 2024 1st Team All-CUSA outfielder Alexis Gilio, who hit a team-leading .383 and stole 14 bases a season ago.

Northern Colorado

Coming off a 2024 Big Sky Conference Tournament championship and appearance in the NCAA Regionals, Northern Colorado looks to make some noise against the loaded field of the PVCC.

The Bears faced fellow PVCC participant Oklahoma State and gave Michigan a handful before bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in May, and star utility player Ella Gonzales delivered three hits in those postseason contests.

Gonzales is back for 2025, coming off a 2024 campaign in which she hit .351 and drove in 32. Fellow All-Big Sky standout Amailee Morales also returns, looking to build off a sophomore season in which she hit .325 with a 1.167 OPS, .721 slugging percentage and 13 home runs.

Oklahoma State

Despite the long shadow in-state rival Oklahoma has cast over them, the Cowgirls rank among the most dominant programs in college softball over the last half-decade.

Last season’s trip to the Women’s College World Series marked five in a row for Oklahoma State, a program that has been in every NCAA Tournament since Kenny Gajewski’s debut as head coach in 2016.

The Cowgirls figure to be the team to beat in the Big 12 Conference with Oklahoma gone for the SEC, and they have the firepower to unseat the Sooners as national champions. First, they converge on the PVCC for the tournament’s two marquee matchups with Florida State.

Returning Cowgirls Lexi McDonald and Karli Godwin both one-dotted a season ago, with Godwin also hitting 15 home runs. Micaela Wark and Claire Timm joined her with the double-digit home runs, knocking out 11 and 10.

The big question for Oklahoma State ahead of the PVCC is how its pitching rotation will adapt with the departures of Lexi Kilfoyl and Ivy Rosenberry. Kilfoyl was among the nation’s best starters in 2024, going 26-5 over 180 2/3 innings pitched.

How To Watch the 2025 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge

Watch the 2025 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on FloSoftball and the FloSports App.

FloSoftball will be streaming several NCAA Division I College Softball tournaments including the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Rocket City Softball Showcase, FAU Paradise Classic, and the FAU Joan Joyce Classic.

2025 PVCC Team List - Session 1:

• Florida State
• Louisiana Tech
• Northern Colorado
• Oklahoma State

2025 PVCC Team List - Session 2:

• Boise State
• BYU
• Florida International
• Illinois State
• Indiana
• North Dakota State

When Is The Puerto Vallarta Softball Tournament?

Session 1 for PVCC will take place February 6-9th followed by Session 2 from February 13-16th.

Puerto Vallarta College Challenge 2025 Schedule

PVCC Session 1 schedule (all times CT): 

Feb. 6

• 10 a.m. – Florida State vs. Oklahoma State
• 1 p.m. – Florida State vs. Northern Colorado
• 4 p.m. – Northern Colorado vs. LA Tech

Feb. 7

• 1 p.m. – Florida State vs. LA Tech
• 4 p.m. – Oklahoma State vs. LA Tech
• 7 p.m. – Northern Colorado vs. Oklahoma State

Feb. 8

• 1 p.m. – LA Tech vs. Northern Colorado
• 4 p.m. – LA Tech vs. Florida State
• 7 p.m. – Oklahoma State vs. Florida State

PVCC Session 2 schedule (all times CT):

Feb. 12

• Noon – North Dakota State vs. BYU

Feb. 13

• 10 a.m. – Florida International vs. Boise State
• 1 p.m. – Florida International vs. North Dakota State
• 4 p.m. – BYU vs. Illinois State
• 7 p.m. – Indiana vs. North Dakota State

Feb. 14

• 10 a.m. – Florida International vs. Illinois State
• 12:30 p.m. – Florida International vs. North Dakota State
• 3 p.m. – Illinois State vs. Indiana
• 6 p.m. – Boise State vs. Indiana
• 8:30 p.m. – Boise State vs. BYU

Feb. 15

• 10 a.m. – Illinois State vs. North Dakota State
• 1 p.m. – Indiana vs. BYU
• 4 p.m. – BYU vs. Florida International
• 7 p.m. – Boise State vs. Florida International

Where Is The Puerto Vallarta Softball Tournament?  

The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge is at Nancy Almaraz Field in Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico.

The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge 2025 Stream

The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge is streaming on FloSoftball and the FloSports app. Replays of the games, highlights and more breaking news will be on both platforms. 

You make the call 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 or 𝐎𝐮𝐭?

The @uwsoftball vs @ou_softball was a wild one 😳 this early in the season@pvcollegesb#PVCC #collegesoftball #ncaasoftball #d1softball pic.twitter.com/rwLewNE6Iq

— FloSoftball (@FloSoftball) February 10, 2024

FloSoftball Archived Footage

Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloSoftball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

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