GULF SHORES. Ala. – The FGCU softball team will begin the 2015 season this weekend as the Eagles travel to Alabama to take part in the Sand Dollar Classic Friday, Feb. 6 through Sunday, Feb. 8. The tournament will include the University of Alabama, the University of South Alabama, the University of Southern Mississippi, Houston, FIU, Houston Baptist University, Jackson State University, Lamar University, Liberty University, McNeese State University and Eastern Kentucky University.

The Green and Blue will begin the season against McNeese State University in a 1 p.m. start on Friday afternoon. After the season opener they will take the field against Houston Baptist at 4 p.m. On Saturday, the Eagles are slated to play Alabama at 4 p.m. and Houston at 7 p.m. FGCU concludes the tournament on Sunday when they square-off against Southern Miss. in a 1 p.m. start.

SCOUTING THE FIELD                                                                                            
In the first game of the season, the Eagles will take on McNeese State Friday afternoon. The Cowgirls finished last season with a record of 40-17 and a 20-6 conference mark to finish as regular season champions in the Southland Conference. They eventually fell in the Southland Conference Championship Game to Northwestern State. McNeese returns 13 letterwinners with six starters and all three pitchers including the 2014 SLC pitcher of the year Jamie Allred, who had a record of 27-8 striking out 208 batters while having a 1.57 ERA.

The Eagles will continue action with Houston Baptist of the Southland Conference on Friday evening. The Huskies return to the diamond after posting an overall record of 23-28 and a 12-18 conference record. HBU lost to Sam Houston State in the first elimination round of the Southland Conference tournament last season. Houston Baptist returns Alyssa Burnett who was named to the 2015 Southland Conference First Team after having an outstanding freshman year where she hit .333 with five homeruns and 28 RBI.

On Saturday afternoon, the Green and Blue will take on Alabama. The Crimson Tide return two time All-American Haylie McCleney who spent the summer playing for Team USA. Right-handed pitcher Sydney Littlejohn led the SEC with a 1.49 ERA in 2014. She also threw 13.0 innings over three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, allowing just one unearned run. As a team, Alabama finished last season with a record of 53-13 and a 19-5 mark in conference play. The team then continued to the College World Series Championship where they lost to the eventual National Champion Florida Gators in two games.

The Eagles will conclude Saturday's action with a game against the University of Houston. The Cougars finished the 2014 season with a record of 33-23 and a mark of 13-8 in the American Athletic Conference. After their stellar run in conference play, the Cougars advanced to the Regional round in the NCAA Tournament. Houston returns 11 letterwinners including starting middle infielder Selena Hernandez who was named Second Team All-American Athletic Conference at shortstop as she led the league with 46 runs scored and ranked third with 37 RBI last season.  Junior Katie St. Pierre also returns for the Cougars after she led the league in hitting with a .399 batting average last season.

FGCU will round out the tournament against Southern Mississippi Sunday afternoon. The Golden Eagles top returner this season is first baseman Sarah Evans who led the team with a .351 batting average while also tallying 46 hits and 26 RBI. Southern Miss. ended the 2014 season with a 22-31 record and a mark of 10-14 in Conference USA play.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
Entering the 2015 season, the FGCU softball team was selected to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun, as determined by the league's coaches in the preseason poll. In conjunction with the coaches' poll, senior outfielder Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla/Hagerty High School) earned Preseason All-Conference honors.

A season ago, Carpenter led the team and the league with a batting average of .432 in 60 games. The left fielder amassed 10 doubles with a triple and 10 home runs and a slugging percentage of .670. Carpenter had a team-best 76 hits in 176 at bats and crossed the plate 47 times. Her doubles mark and tally of 51 RBI also led the squad. In the field, Carpenter maintained a fielding average of .976 with 78 putouts on the season.

Following a tremendous junior season, Carpenter earned First Team All-Conference accolades and was named to the Academic All-Conference team. She picked up A-Sun All-Tournament Team honors after recording five hits in the postseason tournament and was named to the NFCA All-South Region Team.

The 2015 squad features just seven returners and a group of 15 players who will compete in a spring schedule for the first time. Despite last year's loss of leadership in a large graduating class, the Eagles return four of last season's top-six hitters with the two strongest ERAs from a year ago and the deepest roster the Eagles have seen in recent history.

Backed by Carpenter, the Eagles' returners accounted for 47.6 percent of the team's hits from last season, 45 percent of extra-base hits and 43 percent of last year's runs batted in. In addition to Carpenter, Makensie McAvoy (Plant City, Fla./Plant City High School), Alexis "Louie" Ross (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker High School) and Jeanie Verderese (Jacksonville, Fla./Creekside High School) all return to the lineup having batted at least .237 a season ago, while now sophomore Taylor Wade (Pace, Fla./Pace High School) contributed to the team's success in the circle and at the plate last season.

With Shelby Morgan (High Springs, Fla./Sante Fe High School) and Wade returning to the circle, the Eagles' veterans hold a combined ERA of 2.74 and struck out 66 batters last season.

The Green and Blue finished the 2014 season with a record of 33-26-1 and a 14-13 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They would ultimately lose to Mercer 2-1 in the semifinal of the A-Sun Conference tournament.

THE SAND DOLLAR CLASSIC
The 2015 NCAA Sand Dollar Classic will feature 12 NCAA Division I softball programs at the Gulf Shores SportPlex Feb. 5 through 8.  Some of the top college teams and players in the country will be competing against each other throughout the four-day event.  The tournament is hosted by The Fieldhouse, an indoor baseball and softball training facility located in Daphne, Ala., in conjunction with the City of Gulf Shores and the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission.

THE SCHEDULE

Friday, Feb. 6
1 p.m. McNeese State vs. FGCU
4 p.m. Houston Baptist vs. FGCU

Saturday, Feb. 7
4 p.m. #3 Alabama vs. FGCU
7 p.m. Houston vs. FGCU

Sunday, Feb. 8
1 p.m. Southern Mississippi 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.