CLEARWATER, Fla. – The FGCU softball team (8-9) will travel to the Eddie C. Moore Complex to play in the USF Under Armour Invitational from Friday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, Mar. 1. The Bulls host the invitational on the campus of USF in Tampa and on an off campus facility in Clearwater. The tournament field includes East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee State, Oakland, Radford, Sacred Heart, Central Arkansas, Illinois, Illinois at Chicago, Maine, Rhode Island and Villanova.

The Green and Blue will begin the three-day event against Georgia State in a 4 p.m. start Friday afternoon. After the opening game they will take on Villanova at 6:15 p.m. On Saturday, the Eagles are scheduled to play Eastern Michigan at 12:15 p.m. and Maine at 2:45 p.m. FGCU concludes invitational play when they take the field against Illinois at 9 a.m. on Sunday.  

SCOUTING THE FIELD
The Panthers of Georgia State are 7-2 on the season and are currently on a four-game win streak with their only losses coming to No. 16 Auburn. Freshman catcher Ivie Drake leads the team hitting .519 with 14 hits, five doubles, 28 total bases and is slugging 1.037. Senior Callie Alford leads the team with five homeruns and 14 runs batted in. Taylor Thorpe is their leading pitcher with a 3-0 record with 11 strikeouts and a 4.60 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched.

The Eagles will continue action with Villanova of the Big East on Friday evening. The Wildcats are 1-4 on the season with losses to FIU, UAB, Wichita State and Harvard with their lone win coming against Siena. Sophomore Lauren Herscheberg leads the Wildcats with a .353 batting average, six hits, two doubles and eight total bases. Junior Aleshia Ayers leads the team with one homerun, two RBI, two runs and is slugging 1.000. Kate Poppe holds a 1-2 record in the circle with a 3.68 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 19 innings.

On Saturday afternoon, the Green and Blue will take on Eastern Michigan. The Eagles are 4-6 on the season and come into the invitational with a three-game win streak after playing Columbia, UMass-Lowell and Siena. Offensively, Eastern Michigan is led by Michelle Kriegshauser who is hitting .379 with 11 hits, eight RBI and 16 total bases. Senior Lindsay Rich has been the Eagles work horse in the circle compiling a record of 4-5, striking out 29 and walking 25 with a 4.07 ERA in 43 innings.

The Eagles will conclude play on Saturday with a game against Maine. The Black Bears are 1-4 on the season after playing in the UNF Home Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. Maine's only win on the season came against Atlantic Sun foe Jacksonville. Freshman Erika Leonard leads the team with three runs, one homerun, two RBI, three stolen bases and is slugging .500. Senior Alexis Bogdanovich leads the pitching staff with a record of 1-1 with 10 strikeouts and zero walks with a 1.50 ERA.

FGCU will round out the invitational against Illinois Sunday morning. The Fighting Illini have opened the season with a 5-10 mark with noteworthy wins over Houston and Mississippi State. Sophomore Ruby Rivera leads the team with a .426 batting average, 20 hits, 13 runs, 33 total bases while adding three homeruns, and nine RBI. Sophomore Nicole Evans leads the team with five homeruns and 18 runs batted in while adding 12 hits with a .286 batting average.  Senior Shelese Arnold has made 11 appearances in the circle with a 3-5 record, striking out 32, walking 37 and holds a 5.50 ERA.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
The Eagles have started the season with a 8-9 record and enter this weekend riding a four-game winning streak.

Offensively, the Eagles are led by senior Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) who is hitting .367 on the season with 18 hits, three doubles, two triples, a homerun and 11 RBI. The outfielder is holding a slugging percentage of .571 through 17 games with a fielding percentage of 1.000. Freshman Chandler Middlebrook (Auburndale, Fla./Auburndale HS) leads the team with two homeruns while adding eight runs batted in.

The pitching staff is led by senior Shelby Morgan (High Springs, Fla./Sante Fe HS) who is 3-1 on the season with 18 strikeouts and a 3.39 ERA in 33 innings.

Head coach David Deiros enters the weekend three wins away from 500 on his career. He has compiled a 497-220-3 record in 13 seasons and has built the FGCU softball program from the dirt up.

THE TOURNAMENT
The USF Under Armour Invitational will get underway at 11:15 a.m. on Friday with four games spread between Tampa and Clearwater, Fla. The final game of the invitational is Sunday at 12 p.m. when the host school USF takes on Georgia State.

THE SCHEDULE

Friday, Feb. 27
11:15 a.m. East Carolina vs. Central Arkansas
11:15 a.m. Maine vs. Middle Tennessee State
11:15 a.m. Oakland vs. Radford
11:15 a.m. Georgia Southern vs. Illinois
1:45 p.m. Sacred Heart vs. Central Arkansas
1:45 p.m. Radford vs. Middle Tennessee State
1:45 p.m. Maine vs. East Carolina
1:45 p.m. Illinois at Chicago vs. Rhode Island
1:45 p.m. USF vs. Illinois
4 p.m. Oakland vs. Rhode Island
4 p.m. Illinois at Chicago vs. Sacred Heart
4 p.m. FGCU vs. Georgia State
4 p.m. Villanova vs. Eastern Michigan
4 p.m. USF vs. Georgia Southern
6:15 p.m. FGCU vs. Villanova
6:15 p.m. Georgia State vs. Eastern Michigan

Saturday, Feb. 28
10 a.m. Georgia Southern vs. Maine
10 a.m. Radford vs. Sacred Heart
10 a.m. Illinois vs. East Carolina
12:15 p.m. Georgia Southern vs. Rhode Island
12:15 p.m. Eastern Michigan vs. FGCU
12:15 p.m. Oakland vs. Middle Tennessee State
12:15 p.m. Radford vs. Central Arkansas
12:15 p.m. Illinois at Chicago vs. Villanova
12:15 p.m. Georgia State vs. East Carolina
2:45 p.m. Middle Tennessee State vs. Rhode Island
2:45 p.m. Eastern Michigan vs. Illinois
2:45 p.m. Central Arkansas vs. Oakland
2:45 p.m. FGCU vs. Maine
2:45 p.m. USF vs. Sacred Heart
2:45 p.m. Georgia State vs. Villanova
5 p.m. USF vs. Illinois at Chicago

Sunday, Mar. 1
9 a.m. Central Arkansas vs. Eastern Michigan
9 a.m. Sacred Heart vs. Oakland
9 a.m. East Carolina vs. Middle Tennessee State
9 a.m. Illinois vs. FGCU
11:30 a.m. Villanova vs. Georgia Southern
11:30 a.m. Maine vs. Illinois at Chicago
11:30 a.m. Radford vs. Rhode Island
12 p.m. USF vs. Georgia State
 
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  .693 (497-220-3). 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.