FORT MYERS, Fla. – After playing its last 16 games on the road, the FGCU softball team (24-5) returns home hosting a pair of doubleheaders against Buffalo and Marshall in preparations before the start of ASUN play.
The Eagles will commence its doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday with Buffalo. On Wednesday, FGCU will welcome Marshall for two games also starting at 5 p.m.
Live stats for each game can be viewed by visiting the following links:
Buffalo Game 1 |
Buffalo Game 2 |
Marshall Game 1 |
Marshall Game 2
THROWBACK DAY
Tuesday's games will be "Throwback Day" as the Eagles will be wearing their throwback jerseys for both contests. This will also include 90's music throughout the night as well as trivia and many more 90's themed promotions provided by the FGCU Marketing staff.
RPI RANKINGS
Coming off a 4-1 trip in Clearwater, Fla., it was announced Monday morning in the NCAA's first softball 2018 RPI rankings that the Eagles are ranked #42 in the nation. FGCU leads a total of five ASUN members that landed a spot in the top-80 as Lipscomb (56), Kennesaw State (63), USC Upstate (71) and UNF (79) rounded out the RPI top-80.
To view the complete rankings
click here.
THE GREEN & BLUE
In the latest national ranking, the FGCU pitching staff is ranked #12 in team ERA boasting a 1.32 average.
Riley Randolph leads the staff with a 9-2 record, has a 1.24 ERA and has struck out 63 batters in 73.1 innings of work. Meanwhile,
Taylor Bauman is #5 in the country with a 0.46 ERA and is two saves shy of tying the NCAA single-season saves record at 15.
At the plate,
Kate Kelly (Cape Coral, Fla./North Ft. Myers/Seminole State) leads a trio of Eagles batting .300 plus with a .333 BA.
Racquel Fournet (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Preparatory School) is right behind Kelly batting .329 and has a team-high 18 RBI.
SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo will enter The Nest 8-14 overall most recently going 1-4 at the USF Tournament. The Bulls offensive lineup features a quartet of .300 plus hitters led by Jenelle Martinez at .379 with a team-16 RBI.
In the circle, Ally Power holds a 4.24 ERA and is 6-7 this season. The Bulls rotation staff as a whole boasts a 5.61 ERA and are holding batters to a .330 average.
This will mark the first meeting between both programs.
SCOUTING THE HERD
Marshall is 12-13-1 overall including 4-1-1 in C-USA play. The Herd is coming off a three-game sweep of Southern Miss at home. Taylor McCord spearheads the offensive attack as she has collected a team-high 21 RBI including four homers while batting .359.
In the circle, two pitchers hold an ERA below three, as Ali Burdette leads the bunch at 2.28 despite Abigail Tolbert seeing the most work in 70 innings and a 2.90 ERA. Marshall has held its opponents to a .259 BA and has totaled 110 strikeouts.
FGCU leads the all-time series 1-0 with the last meeting coming back in 2011.
LAST TIME OUT
In its last game of the Clearwater Invitational, FGCU and Princeton remained scoreless through two innings until FGCU broke out the contest in its top half of the third with four runs. Princeton pressed on the back heels of the Eagles but would only get as close as two runs as FGCU added insurance in the sixth en route to the 6-2 final.
On offense, FGCU manufactured 10 hits led by
Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) with three as two more Eagles tallied two apiece.
Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) and
Brooke Clemens (West Rotunda, Fla./Lemon Bay HS/Florida) registered two RBI in the process. Three pitchers saw action in the circle as
Morgan White (Ocala, Fla./Forest HS) snagged the win moving to 5-1 after an effective 1.1 innings of relief.
UP NEXT
After its midweek contests, FGCU will commence ASUN play hosting Stetson on Saturday for two games starting at 2 p.m. before closing out the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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 16th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 597-303-3 (.660) overall mark, 12 seasons with a winning record, and eight campaigns with 35 wins. 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.
