KENNESAW, Ga. – Following multiple schedule changes due to weather, the FGCU softball team (22-26, 5-12 Atlantic Sun Conference) finally took to the field on Saturday but dropped a doubleheader to Kennesaw State (31-14, 12-5 A-Sun). The Eagles fell to the Owls in extra innings in the first game, 11-9, before succumbing in the second contest, 5-3.
 
The Eagles took a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the 7th in game one, but allowed four runs in the frame and then a two-run walk-off home run in the 9th to drop the opening contest. In game two, the Green and Blue responded from a 1st-inning 3-0 deficit to knot the contest at 3-3 in the 3rd before the hosts plated two in the 5th in for the deciding margin.
 
In game one, Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) drove in four runs as the designated player out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup while going 2-5 at the plate with a home run and a double. Alexis Ross (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker HS) had three hits and an RBI in the three hole, while Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and Christine Marino (Miami, Fla./Hialeah Miami Lakes HS/Bryan College) also collected three hits as Carpenter scored three times as well.
 
In game two, each of FGCU's first six batters had a hit, with Marino having two as part of a 2-for-3 effort out of the five spot in the lineup. Chandler Middlebrook (Auburndale, Fla./Auburndale HS) drove in two runs on the strength of a home run in the cleanup spot while Carpenter added a triple and an RBI.
 
"I'm disappointed by the results, but not the effort," stated FGCU head coach David Deiros. "We had game one won but couldn't get the final out, and we had our chances in game two as well."
 
GAME 1 RECAP
Kennesaw jumped out to a 2-0 lead on starter Shelby Morgan (High Springs, Fla./Sante Fe HS) in the 1st inning, but the Eagles responded with a run in the 2nd and a pair in the 3rd to take a 3-2 edge. The Owls knotted the contest in the 4th, but the Green and Blue plated four in the 5th and looked to take control of the contest.
 
Makensie McAvoy (Plant City, Fla./Plant City HS) led off the frame with a single to center before Carpenter singled through the left side. That set the stage for McGuire to drive in her team-high tying 5th home run of the year to left to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead. The lead ballooned to 7-3 later in frame as Jeanie Verderese (Jacksonville, Fla./Creekside HS) singled down the left-field line to bring around Middlebrook.
 
Kennesaw got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame before Middlebrook drove in another run by plating Carpenter on a double to right center in the 6th to put the Eagles ahead, 8-4. The Owls got another run back in the bottom on an illegal pitch before FGCU added another run in the 7th.
 
However, FGCU held a 9-6 lead with two outs in the 7th but couldn't close the door as the Owls eventually tied the contest and then won it on the aforementioned home run.

GAME 2 RECAP
After Kennesaw took a 3-0 lead off starter Ashley Dobson (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley HS), the Eagles responded with a Middlebrook two-run home run to center in the 2nd to bring them within one, 3-2. The game was eventually tied on Carpenter's triple to left in the 3rd.
Unfortunately for FGCU, the Owls responded with two in the 5th to claim the win and the series.
 
The two sides were scheduled to play a third game on Sunday; however, the contest was rescheduled for Friday due to pending inclement weather. The contest was canceled on Friday due to weather, and as a result of conference rules will not be made up.
 
FGCU is scheduled to return to action when it travels to FAU on Wednesday, Apr. 22, for a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m.
 
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  .687 (511-234-3). 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.