FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Softball team will begin its home slate this weekend as the Eagles host the FGCU/Four Points by Sheraton Invitational Friday Feb. 20 through Sunday Feb. 22. The tournament will include Purdue, Oakland, Stony Brook and Bethune-Cookman.

The Green and Blue will begin the tournament against Purdue in a 7 p.m. start Friday night. On Saturday, they will take on Bethune-Cookman at 10 a.m. and Purdue at 12:15 p.m. The Eagles will start play on Sunday against Stony Brook at 11:15 a.m. and will conclude the tournament at 1:30 p.m. against Oakland.

THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
In the first home game of the season, the Eagles will take on Purdue Friday night. The Green and Blue will also play Purdue on Saturday afternoon. After starting the season 1-4 with their only win coming against No. 24 Texas A&M, the Boilermakers went 5-0 at the FIU Invitational to improve to 6-4 on the year and extended their winning streak to six games. At the plate, Purdue is led by first baseman Ashley Burkhardt who is hitting .469 with five homeruns, 15 runs batted in, nine runs scored and seven stolen bases. Lilly Fecho is the pitcher to watch this weekend as she holds a 5-2 record with 47 strikeouts in 40.1 innings and has an earned run average of 1.04.  

FGCU will open the second day of the tournament against Bethune-Cookman Saturday morning. The Wildcats come into the weekend holding a record of 2-8 with their wins coming over Akron and Atlantic Sun foe Jacksonville last weekend. Shortstop Sophia Ortega leads Bethune-Cookman with a .382 batting average and seven runs while adding seven RBI and a homerun. Sophomore Sabrina Anguiano (1-7) has done the majority of the work in the circle for the Wildcats pitching 46 innings and striking out 30. Bethune-Cookman went 25-31 last season and won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Regular Season Title.

The Green and Blue will begin Sunday against Stony Brook. The Seawolves will begin their season at the FGCU/Four Points by Sheraton Invitational on Friday against Oakland at 11:30 a.m.  Stony Brook posted a 34-18 record last season and won the America East Conference Regular Season Title. They would eventually loose in the America East Championship Series to Albany. Catcher Alexandra Piscoitta is the Seawolves top returning hitter after hitting a .405 average with four homeruns, 16 RBI and 11 runs last season. Senior Allison Cukrov compiled a record of 23-9 in the circle last year for Stony Brook with 187 strikeouts, eight shutouts, three saves and a 2.10 ERA in 213 innings.

The final game of the tournament for the Eagles will be played against Oakland Sunday afternoon. The Golden Grizzles opened the season two weeks ago at the Pirate Classic in Greenville, N.C. where they went 2-3 with both of their wins coming against Delaware State. Outfielder Courtnee Johnson leads Oakland with a .417 batting average while first baseman Sara Cupp leads the team with five runs batted in. Laura Pond holds a 1-0 record in the circle this year after pitching 10 innings with eight strikeouts. Oakland complied a record of 16-23 last season and finished in seventh in the Horizon League.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
The Eagles have started the season with a 4-6 mark after a challenging schedule at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. and the USF President's Day Weekend Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

Offensively, The Green and Blue are led by junior Makensie McAvoy (Plant City, Fla./Plant City HS) who is hitting .448 through 10 games. McAvoy also has six runs, 13 total bases and three walks. The outfielder is holding a slugging percentage of .448 through the first 10 games with a fielding percentage of 1.000. Freshman Chandler Middlebrook (Auburndale, Fla./Auburndale High School) leads the team with two homeruns and seven RBI.

The pitching staff is led by junior Ashley Dobson (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley High School) who is 1-1 on the season. Dobson has pitched 10 innings with 11 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.90.

THE SCHEDULE

Friday, Feb. 13
11:30 a.m. Oakland vs. Stony Brook
2 p.m. Oakland vs. Purdue
4:30 p.m. Bethune-Cookman cs. Stony Brook
7 p.m. Purdue vs. FGCU

Saturday, Feb 14
10 a.m. Bethune-Cookman vs. FGCU
12:15 p.m. Purdue vs. FGCU
2:30 p.m. Bethune-Cookman vs. Oakland
4:45 p.m. Stony Brook vs. Oakland
7 p.m. Stony Brook vs. Oakland

Sunday, Feb 15
9 a.m.  Bethune-Cookman vs. Purdue
11:15 a.m. Stony Brook vs. FGCU
1:30 p.m. Oakland vs. FGCU

For up-to-the minute information on the FGCU softball program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_Softball and Instagram at fgcusoftball and stay tuned at FGCUAthletics.com.

The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros enters his 13th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to 11 seasons with a winning record, eight campaigns with 35+ wins and a win percentage of .699 (489-211-3). The 2014 Eagles finished with a 33-26-1 and wins over SEC, Big 10, Big East, and ACC opponents.  FGCU finished their season with an RPI ranking in the top-100 for the 3rd consecutive season and the 5th time in their seven years at Division I. Deiros is a former head coach at the 1998 Florida State Runner-up Lely High School in Naples and is the founding head coach of the 1999 District Champion/2001 Regional Runner-up Gulf Coast High School in Naples.