FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU softball team (23-27, 5-12 Atlantic Sun) will host Lipscomb (26-23, 11-6 Atlantic Sun) this week in a three-game series. The series will begin Thursday, Apr. 30 with a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. and will conclude on Friday, May 1 with a single game at 1 p.m.

FGCU will get its first look at Lipscomb this season. The Green and Blue got swept in their three-game series last year and hold a 6-10 all-time record against the Bisons.
 
The Eagles are currently sitting in seventh place in the A-Sun behind Jacksonville (25-26, 7-11 A-Sun). The Dolphins travel to Northern Kentucky (6-39, 1-17 A-Sun), which stands in eighth place, for a three-game series this weekend.

USC Upstate (40-8, 18-2 A-Sun), Lipscomb, Kennesaw State (31-17, 12-8 A-Sun), North Florida (30-25, 12-9 A-Sun) and Stetson (27-18, 10-11 A-Sun) have all clinched a spot in the A-Sun Tournament. The Eagles need to sweep Lipscomb and have Jacksonville drop at least two games against the Norse to earn the final spot in the tournament.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
Senior Kelsey Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) leads the team in batting average (.349), homeruns (5), hits (51), RBI (31), runs (31), slugging percentage (.527), walks (18) and total bases (77). Freshman Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) is the teams primary leadoff hitter and is batting .342 on the season and has a team-high 22 stolen bases.

Junior Ashley Dobson (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley HS) leads the Eagles with a 3.14 ERA. Dobson has notched 10 wins, which is good for ninth most in the A-Sun, to lead the Green and Blue while adding a team-best 80 strikeouts.

Offensively, the team has held a combined batting average of .269 to go along with 168 RBI and 197 runs. In the circle, the Eagles have a combined ERA of 4.01 in 321 innings pitched and have a total of 187 strikeouts.

THE BISONS
The Bisons are 26-23 on the season and hold a mark of 11-6 in A-Sun play. Lipscomb currently sits in second place in the A-Sun standings with Kennesaw State right behind them in third. Last time out Lipscomb swept Kennesaw State in a three-game series, outscoring the Owls 18-2.

At the plate, Lipscomb is led by Paige Neely who is batting .380 and slugging .487 through 49 games. Neely also adds 17 doubles, 60 hits, 15 walks, 30 runs batted in and 77 total bases. Baylee Williams is the second threat in the Bisons' lineup with five homers and 35 RBI while batting .284.

Kelly Young leads the team in the circle with a 14-13 record and an ERA of 2.94 in 173.2 innings pitched. Tanner Sanders has also pitched 138.2 innings with a 12-10 record and an ERA of 3.03.

UP NEXT
The 2015 Atlantic Sun Tournament will begin on May 6 at the FGCU Softball Complex with the top six teams competing for a spot in the A-Sun Championship game on May 9.  

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  .682 (512-238-3). 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.