Women’s intramurals and club sports were already part of FSU’s culture by the time intercollegiate athletics came into the national spotlight in the early 1970s. An organized softball team was formed as early as 1969, with graduate assistants serving as head coaches. Title IX, which paved the way for women’s intercollegiate sports, was signed into law in 1972, and by 1973 FSU welcomed its women’s program into the school’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The upstart Seminole softball team had won the state championship in 1971 and finished runner-up in 1974.
In 1978, FSU fielded its first official intercollegiate softball team. Coached by graduate student Freida Chewning, the Seminoles impressed with a 46-9 record that year. FSU also qualified for the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Region III tournament for the first time. The AIAW served as a governing body for women’s collegiate athletics, similar to the NCAA for men’s athletics, and dissolved in 1983 after the NCAA accepted women’s programs.
FSU alumna Dr. JoAnne Graf returned to Tallahassee as head coach of the softball team in 1979. She was instrumental in legitimizing women’s collegiate athletics at FSU during the 1980s and beyond. Over 30 seasons, Dr. Graf guided the Seminoles to two AIAW National Championships, seven NCAA Women’s College World Series appearances and 10 ACC titles. At the time of her retirement in 2008, Dr. Graf’s 1,437 wins were the most by any head coach in collegiate softball. FSU honored Dr. Graf in 2005 by renaming the team’s playing surface JoAnne Graf Field and in 2019 by renaming the team’s first home tournament of the season as the JoAnne Graf Classic.
The Seminoles were the hottest team in the country in the early 1980s, winning two consecutive AIAW slow-pitch National Championships. In 1981, FSU went undefeated in the Florida AIAW tournament, the AIAW Regional III tournament and the AIAW Women’s College World Series, defeating North Carolina in the title game for the first championship in program history. The Noles repeated the feat in 1982 with a win over in-state rival Florida in the National Championship game. Dr. JoAnne Graf coached the squad both seasons, which featured standouts C Venus Ross, 1B/3B Charlotte Cates, P Susan Painter and SS Darby Cottle.
As more women’s programs joined the NCAA — which declined to make slow-pitch a sanctioned sport — FSU switched from slow-pitch to fast-pitch softball for the 1984 season. Fast-pitch allowed for more dominance from pitchers and less offensive production from batters. The Seminoles had just come off two consecutive AIAW slow-pitch titles, and though the change was major, FSU still finished the 1984 season with a 41-5-2 record. P Shelley Berube led the way with an incredible 18-1 record, followed by P Tina Kyler’s mark of 16-4.
After finishing the 1987 regular season with a 50-10 record, the Noles hosted one of the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Tallahassee. There, FSU swept Adelphi in two games to advance to the first NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in program history. Although FSU fell to Cal State-Fullerton and Central Michigan in their two WCWS games, it marked the start of seven World Series appearances over the next two decades.
The Noles made a big impression upon joining the ACC in 1992, routing Virginia 11-1 in the title game to clinch the inaugural ACC softball tournament. FSU has continued their conference success with 19 ACC regular season championships, 19 ACC Tournament championships and dozens of awards for ACC Coaches of the Year, Players of the Year, Freshmen of the Year and Tournament MVPs.
After 15 years playing at Lady Seminole Field, FSU found a new home when the Seminole Softball/Soccer Complex opened in 1999. The state-of-the-art facility features one of the best playing surfaces in the country, plus a large two-level building for coach offices, locker rooms and training and equipment rooms. FSU softball calls JoAnne Graf Field at the Seminole Softball Complex home today.
Lonni Alameda became head coach in 2009 and carried on the winning legacy established by Dr. JoAnne Graf. Alameda led the Noles to the 2018 National Championship, the first NCAA title in program history, and two runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2023. She has also guided FSU to five Women’s College World Series appearances and 10 consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearances, along with nine ACC Tournament championships and eight ACC regular season championships. After announcing a breast cancer diagnosis in March 2025, Alameda bravely continues to lead the Seminoles today.
No. 6 FSU swept No. 5 Washington in the 2018 Women’s College World Series to win the first NCAA National Championship in program history and first National Championship since 1982 (AIAW). In the first nail-biting game of the series, C Anna Shlenutt drove in the only run to give the Seminoles a narrow 1-0 victory. The bats came alive in Game 2, with Shelnutt, IF Jessie Warren and DP Elizabeth Mason all hitting home runs. P Meghan King dominated the circle, guiding FSU to an 8-3 win and the WCWS title.
Following the challenging COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, FSU was poised to make a deep run in 2021. The No. 10 Noles cruised through the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals before a tough loss to No. 2 UCLA in their first Women’s College World Series matchup. Undeterred, FSU rattled off four straight wins to clinch a spot in the championship series against Oklahoma. The Seminoles won the first game but ultimately fell to the No. 1 Sooners. Still, the brilliant postseason play by veterans OF Cassidy Davis, C Anna Shelnutt, UT Elizabeth Mason and OF Dani Morgan made the season one to remember.
In 2023, FSU finished as national runner-up for the second time in three seasons. The No. 3 Noles went on an incredible run late in the regular season, winning 33 out of 35 games and the ACC championship. FSU dispatched No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Washington and No. 4 Tennessee in the Women’s College World Series to set up a rematch against No. 1 Oklahoma in the championship series. Though the Seminoles fell to the dynastic Sooners once again, FSU’s lineup boasted a hoard of stars with ACC Pitcher of the Year Kathryn Sandercock, ACC All-Conference First Team outfielder Jahni Kerr and ACC Coach of the Year Lonni Alameda.
