Hall of Famer Lonni Alameda has guided the Seminoles into one of the nation’s best teams. After seven Women’s College World Series appearances from 1987-2004, the Seminoles have returned to the final site of women’s collegiate softball five times since (2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023), including winning the program’s first NCAA National Championship in 2018, two WCWS Finals appearances in 2021 and 2023, a WCWS Semifinals appearance in 2016, as well as eight consecutive trips to the NCAA Super Regionals (2013-19, 2021). Florida State had earned seven ACC regular season/division titles in a row and six straight ACC Tournament titles heading into the 2021 season and now owns 19 ACC Tournament Championships while adding 15 ACC Regular Season Championships.
FSU has played in the NCAA postseason every year under Alameda and is one of only seven schools to participate in the NCAA Tournament in every season since 2000. Since Alameda has made Tallahassee her home, she has led the Seminoles to 14 ACC Championship game appearances in 17 full seasons, with titles in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Seminoles have hosted a NCAA Regional the last 11 seasons and are one of just four programs (Alabama, Oklahoma and UCLA) to host a regional in each of the last 10 seasons.
Coach Alameda continued to lead the Seminoles to success in the 2025 season during some unforeseen circumstances. Alameda led the Noles to its 15th ACC Regular Season Championship, another NCAA Super Regional and a 49-12 record. Alameda announced on March 31, 2025, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Alameda continued to lead the Seminoles and did not miss a game as the softball community rallied around her. FSU advanced to its 14th ACC Championship game in the last 16 seasons and hosted another NCAA Regional for the 11th consecutive season as the No. 5 seed. FSU fell to eventual National Runner-up Texas Tech in the Tallahassee Super Regional. Alameda was named ACC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in her career.
Dr. JoAnne Graf spent 30 successful seasons at the helm of the Florida State softball program. With 1,437 victories under her belt, Graf retired on June 15, 2008, with more wins than any other head coach in collegiate softball (since broken).
The first collegiate softball coach to earn 1,400 victories, Graf’s numerous achievements with Florida State softball include AIAW slow-pitch national championships in 1981 and 1982, seven trips to the Women’s College World Series, with the first coming in 1986 (just four years after FSU went to NCAA fast-pitch softball), 21 NCAA Regional appearances and 10 Atlantic Coast Conference titles.
On April 2, 2005, then-Florida State University President Dr. T.K. Wetherell officially renamed the softball stadium “JoAnne Graf Field at the Seminole Softball Complex,” making her among only two active softball coaches with fields named after them. On September 13, 2013, Graf was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.
One of the most prolific coaches in collegiate softball, Graf concluded her career having won 75 percent of her games (1,437-478-6), including a 1,218-425-6 (.740) mark in NCAA Division I play. Her NCAA career win total is currently 11th all-time. Florida State averaged 50.75 wins per year under her guidance since beginning NCAA play ranked No. 1 during that span.
Graf is a 1975 graduate of Florida State. In 1992, she earned her doctorate degree in athletic administration at FSU, and taught at her alma mater until her retirement in 2013.
In 2019, FSU softball began naming its first home tournament every season the “JoAnne Graf Classic” to honor the amazing person, teacher and coach that helped set the foundation that has helped the Seminoles be one of the best programs in the nation.
Freida Chewning served as the first head coach in the program’s first official season of 1978. Chewning was a physical education graduate from the University of Florida and pursuing a master’s degree from FSU while coaching the softball team. The Seminoles had an impressive 43-9 record under Chewning’s one-season tenure.
