FORT MYERS, Fla. - After sweeping Towson in a midweek doubleheader, the FGCU softball team (18-15, 1-2 Atlantic Sun) will take on Northern Kentucky (3-14) at the FGCU Softball Complex this Saturday, Mar. 21, and Sunday, Mar. 22. Saturday's first pitch is slated for 2 p.m. while the finale on Sunday is set to start at noon.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
In game one against Towson, junior Alexis Ross (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker HS) went 2-for-3 and hit her first homerun of the year to straight away center. Sophomore Taylor Wade (Pace, Fla./Pace HS) started in the circle and pitched 4.2 innings in her third win of the season, while senior Shelby Morgan (High Springs, Fla./Sante Fe HS) picked up her second save of the season.

In game two, Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) hit the game-winning hit against the Tigers, while going 4-for-4 with two RBI. Junior Ashley Dobson (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley HS) entered the game in relief, and picked up her team leading eighth win of the season. In three innings of work, Dobson allowed four hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out three.

Senior Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) leads the Eagles' offensive effort as FGCU's everyday centerfielder bats .311 with 22 runs, 20 RBI and a pair of long balls through 33 games this season. Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) and Chandler Middlebrook (Auburndale, Fla./Auburndale HS) stay right behind Carpenter with 17 and 15 runs batted in, respectively. Huff leads the team in batting with a .377 average while scoring 22 runs and stealing 18 bases.

Dobson leads the Eagles' pitching staff with a 2.69 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 67.2 innings pitched. The junior is 8-3 on the season while throwing seven complete games.

SCOUTING NKU
After losing its first ten games, NKU opens conference play against the Eagles after winning three of its last seven, including two wins against Alabama State last Saturday and Sunday.  The team now sits at 3-14 and is currently 3-4 on the road this season.

Under head coach Kathy Stewart, the program's all-time winningest coach, NKU was picked to finish last in the conference preseason poll. The Norse finished 5-45 last season and lost to FGCU in all three matchups.

This season, sophomore slugger Dani Devlin leads the Norse at the dish.  The Chicago native is batting .372 through 17 games and leads the team with five homeruns and 16 runs batted in.

In the circle, freshman Ashlynn Roberts has started the most games for the Norse going 2-6 on the season while senior Kelley Benhase holds the team's best ERA with a mark of 6.24 in 12.1 innings.  Leading to the Norse's struggles, NKU's team ERA is nearly six runs more than its opponents.

UP NEXT
FGCU will travel to DeLand, Fla. to take on Stetson for a three-game series. The conference matchup will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 28, with start times slated for 1 and 3 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. game on Sunday, Mar. 29.

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 (507-226-3). 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.