LOS ANGELES – The FGCU softball team (20-4) came out with hot bats Friday afternoon sweeping the tournament field and moving to its seventh-straight win as the Eagles produced five home runs on day two, claiming a 2-1 victory over Providence (3-14) followed by a dominant 10-1 triumph over Southern Utah (2-17).

"It's nice to be able to win a pitching duel like game one and have the bats provide some cushion like in game two," said head coach David Deiros. "Looking to close out another tournament championship tomorrow afternoon."
 
In the first game of the morning, Farley Callaghan (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) kick-started the offense with her second homer of the year in the third as the Eagles would pull out another close one against the Friars 2-1. In game two versus Southern Utah, FGCU displayed its power hitting four home runs, including two in the fifth en route to a 10-1 win in six innings.

GAME ONE: FGCU 2, PROVIDENCE 1
After two and a half innings of softball played, FGCU was held hitless until its bottom half of the third where Callaghan broke out with a leadoff home run to make it a 1-0 game. It was her second homer of the season. Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) kept the frame alive with two outs with a single and swiped second shortly after. This allowed Racquel Fournet (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Preparatory School) to rope one up the middle and a fielding error in center field would push Huff across home for the 2-0 margin.

Meanwhile, in the circle Riley Randolph (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northeast HS) yielded just two hits after the second inning, escaping a jam in the fifth and sixth that saw runners in scoring position, allowing just one run in that sixth inning to come home. In total, the junior struck out five batters, giving up one walk in the process in her six innings of work.

An all too familiar face in Taylor Bauman (Jacksonville, Fla./Atlantic Coast HS) entered the circle with the one-run game on the line as she would strike out two in the final frame for her NCAA leading 12th save of the year. With the win, Randolph moves to 8-2 this season and it proved to be the fifth time this year she has held a team to three hits in a game.

GAME TWO: FGCU 10, SOUTHERN UTAH 1
FGCU struck first in its bottom half of the first as a walk from Huff set up Bri Bennett (Jacksonville, Fla./Mandarin HS/Lake Sumter) who would single down the right-field line for the run. The Thunderbirds threatened in the third loading the bases and once again putting runners in scoring position in the fourth but all they would produce is two hits combined in both frames.  

The offensive outburst for the Eagles began in the fourth inning with Bri Innamorato (Mullica Hill, N.J./Bishop Eustace HS) hitting a two-run bomb to left center, her first of the year. Southern Utah once again put the pressure back on FGCU in the fifth but two force outs at third and a pop fly capped the inning.

In the bottom half, FGCU continued to post crooked numbers on the board notching three runs on three hits. After Fournet led off with a triple, Bennett launched her second homer of the year, followed by Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) crushing a solo shot giving the Green and Blue a 6-0 advantage.

SUU scratched one run across in the sixth breaking the shutout but the Eagles responded with the final say, going four runs on two hits in their half. With runners on third and second, Kate Kelly (Cape Coral, Fla./North Ft. Myers/Seminole State) reached on an error plating one run across. One batter later with Eagles on the corners, Fournet drilled a 1-1 pitch out of Smith Field for the 10-1 final score as the contest ended in six innings.

The last time FGCU recorded four home runs in a single game was when it happened twice against former ASUN members Belmont and ETSU, both times on the road.

Starting pitcher Morgan White (Ocala, Fla./Forest HS)  tossed 3.2 innings allowing two hits, no runs while fanning six Thunderbirds. Marissa Mesiemore (Bushnell, Fla./South Sumter HS) collects the win moving to 8-1 as she tossed 2.1 innings scattering two hits.

UP NEXT
FGCU will close out the tournament with its final game tomorrow at 4 p.m. EST against Harvard.  

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 593-302-3 (.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.