FORT MYERS, Fla. – Scoreless through five innings, the sixth inning proved to be the decisive inning in a 5-1 defeat for the FGCU Softball team in the Atlantic Sun Championship Final. The Eagles, who claimed a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth, left the bases loaded before conceding five in the bottom of the inning to the USC Upstate Spartans. FGCU entered the tournament as the top-seed after winning the regular season title and end the year at 32-27. Upstate, the No. 2 seed, will represent the A-Sun in the NCAA Tournament with a 42-13 record.

Apart from the first inning when a single and walk put runners at first and second for FGCU, neither side put a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning. In that inning, FGCU scored the go-ahead run on a Louie Ross (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker HS) double. Leading 1-0, the Green and Blue loaded the bases but could not capitalize further, sending the contest into the bottom of the sixth. Upstate would take advantage of an error, scoring five total runs to defeat the Eagles 5-1.

"If you take a look at the sixth inning, that inning had so many swings and so many peaks and valleys for both teams that everything hinged on that," said head coach David Deiros. "We had a chance to go ahead and not only take the lead but break the game open in our half of the inning and we didn't get it done. They buckled down, we didn't execute and that's a credit to them. When it came to our turn, we had chances to go ahead and stem the tide and make it at worst a one run inning or even a scoreless inning, but it turned into a five run inning because we didn't execute well and we had some bad breaks. The long and short of it is, we are champions and we need to walk around like champions. The other piece is, there is no better motivator than failure. I want them to remember that inning so it doesn't happen again."

Hits were hard to come by for both sides through the first five innings. With FGCU as the away team due to USC Upstate entering the game undefeated in the tournament, Makensie McAvoy (Plant City, Fla./Plant City HS) singled with one out in the first and moved to second after Racquel Fournet (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Preparatory School) walked with two outs. The Eagles left both on the bases following a strikeout.

Making her second postseason start, Riley Randolph (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northeast HS) struck out two batters in the first inning to end the frame. The freshman conceded three singles through the first three innings but did not allow a runner to reach second during that time.

Jeanie Verderese (Jacksonville, Fla./Creekside HS) tallied FGCU's second hit of the afternoon in the fifth with one out in the inning. Natalie Lopez (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian HS) then had a base hit taken away one batter later, grounding into a fielder's choice. Lopez hit a bouncing ball up the middle, which was fielded by a diving second baseman. As she dove, her foot caught the second base bag to record the second out.

In the bottom half of the inning, Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) returned the defensive effort, making a leaping catch in left to deny the Spartans of extra bases.

The Green and Blue finally broke through in the sixth against a new Upstate pitcher. The Spartans brought on Holly McKinnon, who no-hit the Eagles in the semifinals, and McAvoy immediately singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Coach Deiros then elected to bring Carissa LiCata (Okeechobee, Fla./Okeechobee HS) off the bench to run for the senior and the sophomore swiped second two pitches later. Ross then stepped in and hit a doubled down the left field line to score LiCata. McKinnon's outing would not last long after she put runners at the corners with one out. Facing the original starter, Lexi Shubert, the Eagles loaded the bases but could not tally an additional run in the inning.

Upstate got the run back and took the lead in the bottom half of the sixth. After a leadoff single, an error put runners at second and third. A fly ball to center put the first out on the board but a deep fly ball to left that landed just inside the line allowed the tying run to score. The Spartans then took the lead on a double before Randolph got the next batter to pop out. With two outs, Gabbee Draney (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS) entered the game. Upstate plated three more runs in the inning to take a 5-1 lead into the final frame.

The Eagles put pressure on the Spartans in the seventh, putting two runners on, however the deficit remained 5-1 when the game came to an end.

Randolph (16-5) allowed one earned run, four total, through 5.2 innings of work. The freshman conceded six hits and struck out two in that time. Draney worked the final third, allowing one unearned run on two hits.

Both McAvoy and Ross tallied multi-hit games for the Green and Blue.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, McAvoy, Ross, and Taylor Wade (Pace, Fla./Pace HS) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

2016 Atlantic Sun Softball Championships All-Tournament Team
- Amy Szymanowski, USC Upstate - MVP
- Holly McKinnon, USC Upstate
- Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate
- Abbie Millete, USC Upstate
- Louie Ross, FGCU
- Taylor Wade, FGCU
- Makensie McAvoy, FGCU
- Logan Viers, Kennesaw State
- Taylor Denton, Kennesaw State
- Tori Perkins, Stetson
- Heather Roberts, Jacksonville

FOLLOW ALONG
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.
 
COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros is in his 14th 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 .669 (544-268-3). 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.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.