FORT MYERS, Fla. – After splitting the doubleheader on Saturday, the FGCU softball team (20-16, 3-3 Atlantic Sun) won the rubber match against Northern Kentucky (4-16, 1-2 Atlantic Sun) by a 15-1 score on Sunday afternoon to take the three-game series.

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.

"It was a nice victory to win the series," said head coach David Deiros. "We need those kinds of victories to put us in a good position to make the postseason. We still have a lot of work to do before we head to Stetson next weekend, but I am looking forward to the challenge to fix some things and get ourselves ready."

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.

Northern Kentucky's lone run came in the fourth inning when the leadoff hitter sent the ball over the center field fence.

Freshman Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) led off the game for FGCU with a single up the middle before advancing to second on a groundout. Ross then singled to center to advance Huff to third before sophomore Jeanie Verderese (Jacksonville, Fla./Creekside HS) reached via a walk. With two outs and the bases loaded, McGuire stepped to the plate and crushed the ball over the right field fence for a grand slam.

The Eagles added two more runs in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead. Huff once again led the inning off with a single to right. Junior Makensie McAvoy (Plant City, Fla./Plant City HS) then singled through the left side. Ross reached on an error by the center fielder that scored Huff and advanced McAvoy to third. To cap off the inning, Carpenter laid down an RBI sacrifice bunt which scored McAvoy from third.

The Green and Blue then exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning. After two singles and an error to load the bases, freshman Michaela Hynes (Windermere, Fla./West Orange HS) drove the ball up the middle to score Carpenter and Verderese. After freshman Gabbee Draney (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS) loaded the bases on a walk, freshman Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central HS) reached on an error by the shortstop which scored McGuire. Hynes then scored when freshman Ashley Swiderski (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) reach via the walk. Ross stepped to the plate and hit a bases clearing triple into right field. After reaching third, Ross quickly scored on an RBI single to center off the bat of Carpenter. Verderese  singled into left, and the left fielder misplayed the ball which allowed Carpenter to reach the plate for the final run of the game. 

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 (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.