DeLAND, Fla. – The FGCU softball team (20-16, 3-3 Atlantic Sun) travels to conference foe Stetson (19-7, 2-1 Atlantic Sun) for a three-game series this weekend. The series begins with a doubleheader slated for Saturday, Mar. 28 with first pitch set for 1 p.m. and concludes with single game on Sunday, Mar. 29 with first pitch at 1 p.m.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
In their last time out, the Eagles beat Northern Kentucky by a 15-1 count to win game three and the series.

Junior Ashley Dobson (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley HS) earned the complete-game victory to improve her record to 10-3 on the season. Dobson allowed two hits, one earned run and struck out four.

Freshman Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) went 1-for-2 with her lone hit being a grand slam to right field in the first inning. Junior Alexis Ross (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker HS) went 2-for-4 with three RBI while senior Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) added two hits and two runs batted in.

Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) leads the team on the season with an average of .402 while swiping 18 bases. Carpenter has a team-high 23 RBI and 17 walks while adding a batting average of .309. McGuire sits right behind Carpenter with 22 RBI and adds three homeruns and seven doubles.
Dobson holds a team best 2.43 ERA in 77.2 innings. She has produced a record of 10-3 in 16 appearances to pace the pitching staff. Overall, the staff has four pitchers with over 25 innings pitched and has maintained a team ERA of 3.73.

Offensively, the team has held a combined average of .282 with 139 RBI and a total of 165 runs.

THE HATTERS
Stetson opened A-Sun play against Lipscomb last weekend and took two-of-three games from the Bisons.

Under 19th-year head coach Frank Griffin, Stetson was selected to finish third in the preseason Atlantic Sun Coaches' Poll, a spot ahead of FGCU. The team finished 39-14 last season and won the A-Sun tournament before falling to UF and UCF in the NCAA Tournament.

This season, freshman slugger Jazz Vasquez leads the Hatters at the dish. The Houston, Texas native is batting .422 through 23 games. Senior Demi Meza adds the power with 10 homeruns and 34 runs batted in while slugging .788.

In the circle, freshman Chelsea Hostetler leads the team with a 12-3 record and a 2.91 ERA. Stetson's team ERA is nearly 4.5 runs lower than its opponents.

UP NEXT
FGCU comes back to Fort Myers to host USC Upstate in a three-game series. The conference matchup will begin with a doubleheader on Friday, April 3 with start times slated for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, April 4.

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 is in 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  .691 (509-227-3). 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.