LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The broadcast teams have been revealed for the 2025 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic presented by MaxBP, featuring a veteran crew of analysts, including Olympic gold medalist Natasha Watle
y, who will be on two of the three MLB Network contests. NFCA Official Sponsor GameChanger
is the sole streaming provider of the tournament in which all 44 games will be streamed live Feb. 6-9 from the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex in Clearwater, Fla., which includes 12 with dedicated broadcast teams.
Watley, founder of the Natasha Watley Foundation, will be joined by fellow analysts – Carol Bruggeman, Joey Lye, Aleshia Ocasio
and Maria Trivelpiece
. Watley, joined by play-by-play announcers Bobby Allen and Mike Gill, will be on the call Feb. 8 for the Super Regional rematch between No. 7 Duke and No. 15 Missouri followed by No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 19 Nebraska. Closing out the MLB Network tripleheader will be NFCA CEO Bruggeman, who has over 25 years of Division I coaching experience and is an analyst for ESPN. She will be on the call with Allen for No. 6 Tennessee and No. 21 Northwestern.
Lye, the Director of Softball at IMG Academy, is an Olympic bronze medalist with the Canadian National Team and 15-year Division I, Division III, and International coach. Ocasio, a two-time NFCA All-American and national champion, played both professionally and internationally, winning the 2021 Athletes Unlimited championship (total points leader) and leading Puerto Rico to a bronze medal at the 2015 and 2019 Pan-American Games. Trivelpiece is the Director of Video Communications and Reporter at the American Athletic Conference and serves as the primary on-air talent for conference programming and is a liaison with ESPN. She has also provided commentary and sideline reporting for the Big East Conference and on Fox Sports softball telecasts.
Tournament Central | Schedule (PDF)| Download GameChanger App | Purchase Tickets
All 44 contests (six fields) will be streamed through the GameChanger app (free), which you can watch on your phone, tablet and desktop. Click on the Tournament Central link for all team links and directions on how to watch. To watch the tripleheader on MLB Network, viewers can visit www.mlbnetwork.com for their local channel listings. Last season’s three-game broadcast made history as the first live collegiate softball televised on MLB Network.
Please note that viewers who are unable to access the broadcasts on MLB Network, can still watch the games on the GameChanger app for free.
Analysts – Carol Bruggeman, Joey Lye, Aleshia Ocasio, Maria Trivelpiece, Natasha Watley
Play-by-Play – Bobby Allen, Mike Gill
Games on Field 8 listed first / Games on Field 9 listed second
Friday, Feb. 7
5:00 p.m. - Mississippi State v. Texas Tech (Gill/Ocasio) | Duke vs. Penn State (Allen/Trivelpiece)
8:00 p.m. - Mississippi State v. Duke (Gill/Ocasio) | Texas Tech v. Penn State (Allen/Lye)
Saturday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. – Missouri v. Duke (Allen/Watley) | Notre Dame v. Tennessee (Gill/Trivelpiece)
4:00 p.m. – Nebraska v. Texas Tech (Gill/Watley) | Duke v. Northwestern (Allen/Lye)
7:00 p.m. – Tennessee v. Northwestern (Allen/Bruggeman) | Iowa v. Texas Tech (Gill/Ocasio)
Sunday, Feb. 9
11:00 a.m. – Pittsburgh v. Tennessee (Gill/Trivelpiece) | Duke v. Kentucky (Allen/Ocasio)
*Games on Fields 1 through 4 will feature a single camera live feed through the GameChanger app. Follow all our socials (NFCAorg) for tournament updates and information.
The 2025 field will feature 17 collegiate programs from eight different conferences. Highlighting the field are 2024 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) participant Duke and a pair of Super Regional programs in Missouri and Tennessee. The Tigers are the defending Leadoff champions. In all, 14 programs competed in their conference tournament a year ago, with a total of eight advancing to the 2024 NCAA Regionals.
2025 participating teams: Bethune-Cookman • Duke • Iowa • Kennesaw State • Kentucky • Marshall • Mississippi State • Missouri • Morgan State • Nebraska • Northwestern • Notre Dame • Penn State • Pittsburgh • Southern Miss • Tennessee • Texas Tech
The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its competitive Leadoff Classics, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from a highly-regarded Awards Program to a comprehensive drills database, to in-person events and a National Convention.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of 7,000 coaches today!