2ORLANDO, Fla. – An early deficit was too much to overcome as the FGCU softball team fell to Providence 5-2 Sunday afternoon. The Eagles (10-9) fell behind 3-0 after the first inning and the Friars (3-7) tacked on a pair more in the fourth as the Eagles ended the weekend 2-2.

"We had our chances to recover from a listless first inning and couldn't get it done," said head coach David Deiros. "Gotta give the Friars credit because they battled and we didn't."

After falling behind 3-0 in the first, the Eagles left a pair on the in second before a wild pitch brought FGCU's first run in in the third. The Friars however scored twice more in the fourth to make it 5-1, with the Green and Blue scoring just once more in the fifth, falling 5-2.

Following a three-run first for the Friars, the Eagles had a chance to come back in the second, following a lead off double from Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS). Bri Innamorato (Mullica Hill, N.J./Bishop Eustace HS) then singled with two away to put runners at the corners, but the inning would end with both runners on.

FGCU scratched across a run in the third courtesy of Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS), who reached with one out, stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.

On the comeback trail, a two-run home run in the top of the fourth made the deficit 5-1, which proved to be too much for the Eagles.

FGCU pushed one more run across in the fifth on a Racquel Fournet (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Preparatory School) double to score Huff but the hopes of a big inning ended with two runners on.

Taylor Wade (Pace, Fla./Pace HS) was hit with the loss, evening up her record at 4-4 following a complete game in which she allowed five runs on eight hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Huff led the Eagles with two hits and two runs scored.

UP NEXT
FGCU comes home to take on Holy Cross and Ball State Tuesday starting at 5:45 before meeting Holy Cross Wednesday.

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 recently enters his 15th 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 (552-276-3). 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.