FORT MYERS, FL – Facing its first nationally ranked opponent this season, the FGCU softball team (10-10) came away with a split against No. 15 Indiana (22-4). The Eagles rallied to take the first game of the afternoon, 3-1 as they fell in the nightcap, 2-0.
"I promised everyone two great games and both teams delivered," said head coach
David Deiros. "Our team played very hard and stood toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the country and I thought we did a great job. We had our chances to win the second game, but we just couldn't come up with the big hit and they were able to stretch it just a bit. Anyhow, kudos to all of our kids on how hard they fought today."
FGCU trailed 1-0 after four frames in game one until senior
Racquel Fournet (Windermere, FL./Windermere Preparatory School) produced a bases-clearing double to prevail the Eagles past the Hoosiers, 3-1. In the nightcap, the Eagles' bats struggled to get going as they were limited to four hits while leaving six runners on the bags in the 2-0 defeat.
FGCU 3 | IU 1
IU was able to take a 1-0 lead after manufacturing one run on two hits in the top of the fourth. FGCU, who left one runner on in each of the second, third and fourth frames, finally broke through with a three-run fifth.
Freshman
McKenna Batterton (Norco, CA./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) and Sophomore
Farley Callaghan (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL./Ponte Vedra HS), who walked and reached on an error, moved over to scoring position following a sacrifice bunt from sophomore
Ahnie Jumper (Clewiston, FL./Plantation American Heritage). Two batters later with two away, sophomore
Haley Morrell (Tampa, FL./Academy of Holy Names) drew a walk to load the bases. Next up, facing a 1-2 count, Fournet emptied the bases with a liner to the left-center wall for the 3-1 advantage.
IU threatened in the top of the sixth placing runners in scoring position but a fly out to right would erase any hope. In the final frame, starting pitcher
Riley Randolph (St. Petersburg, FL./Northeast HS) secured the lead, striking out the Hoosiers' side as she earned her 10th complete game of the season, moving to 8-5 overall.
Randolph worked her way through the Indiana lineup tossing 91 pitches while scattering eight hits and striking out eight batters. Fournet capped off her night going 2-for-3 with three RBI.
FGCU 0 | IU 2
In game two, both teams could not get the bats alive as they combined for just five hits through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth, Indiana produced a trio of singles to come away with one run for the lead.
FGCU tried to rally once more but would strand a runner on second in its bottom half of the fifth. In the sixth, the Green and Blue had a prime opportunity, loading the bases off one hit, one error and a walk but a foul out to the third baseman kept the Eagles off the board. Indiana brought one more runner across in the seventh off sac bunt as two grounders and a strikeout ended the contest for FGCU in the seventh.
Starting sophomore pitcher
Marissa Mesiemore (Bushnell, FL./South Sumter HS) (2-4) gets tagged with the loss after going 4.1 innings with one earned run while surrendering six hits.
Taylor Bauman (Jacksonville, FL./Atlantic Coast HS) and
Marcella Parrado (Tampa, FL./College of Central Florida) combined for 2.2 innings of relief.
Up Next
FGCU will travel up to Clearwater, FL., for the USF Tournament and face five teams in three days beginning Friday at 4:45 p.m. against LIU-Brooklyn.
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 17th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 622-324-3 (.657) overall mark, 13 seasons with a winning record, and nine 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.
