CLEARWATER, FL – The FGCU softball team (11-11) split two games Friday evening, falling to LIU Brooklyn (14-9) 7-6 before bouncing back and defeating Seton Hall (8-12) in run-rule fashion with a final score of 8-0.
"I was really pleased on how our team responded after the walk-off loss against LIU Brooklyn," head coach
David Deiros said. "Reedy [Davenport] had an incredible day at the plate with two grand slams and so did Kate [Kelly] as well, reaching on in her first six at-bats today. Riley [Randolph] was once again dominant in her outing against Seton Hall, pitching a gem to wrap it all up for us. We're looking forward to day two of the tournament. Saturday afternoon."
FGCU 6 | LIU Brooklyn 7
The Eagles wasted no time jumping on the board. Three-straight singles from
Kate Kelly (Cape Coral, FL./Seminole State College),
Haley Morrell (Tampa, FL./Academy of Holy Names) and
Racquel Fournet (Windermere, FL./Windermere Preparatory School) loaded the bags. This set up
Reedy Davenport (St. Johns, FL./Bartram Trail HS) to take the first pitch she saw of the park to left field for the 4-0 lead. It was the freshman's second home run of the season.
Shortly after the top half, LIU Brooklyn tacked on a pair of runs to cut the deficit down to two. Scoreless over the next two frames, the Blackbirds took their first lead of the contest with three-run fourth using three hits.
The Green and Blue pushed a runner across in the top of the fifth with Davenport reaching on an error to start the frame. A sac bunt from sophomore
Ahnie Jumper (Clewiston, FL./Plantation American Heritage) placed her in scoring position as a single from junior
Mikenzie Vaughn (Kennesaw, GA./Florida Southwestern) brought her home with a one-out knock to left.
LIU Brooklyn answered once again with a run in its half but FGCU tacked on one more in the top of the sixth for the draw. Senior Kelly got things going with a leadoff single as she advanced to second on a wild pitch. A grounder from Morrell moved her over to third which allowed Fournet to bring her in with a single up the middle for the tie.
Tied 6-6 going to the bottom of the seventh, LIU Brooklyn produced a walk as a double to center gave LIU Brooklyn the walk-off victory.
Freshman
Emily Hess (Endwell, N.Y./Maine Endwell HS) (0-1) gets hit with the loss after walking the scoring run in the seventh. Davenport finished 1-for-4 with the four RBI while Kelly finished 4-for-4 with two runs scored.
FGCU 8 | Seton Hall 0 (five innings)
The Eagles started the first inning scoring one run on three hits. After a fielder's choice and a walk from Morrell and Fournet, a single from Davenport loaded the bases. One batter later, senior
Brooke Clemens (West Rotunda, FL./Florida) put one in play to left field for the RBI single.
In the second inning, FGCU's bats' exploded with six runs on five hits. Facing one out, three consecutive singles from Kelly, Morrell, and Fournet filled the bags. Davenport then dug in and launched her second grand slam of the day out to left field – her third of the home run of the season. Following a pitching change, Clemens smacked a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for the second home run of the inning, her first of the season.
Davenport scored the final run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth. Beginning with a leadoff single, the freshman moved over to second then third with a stolen base and a wild pitch. Two batters later, Vaughn collected the RBI, grounding out to second.
Meanwhile,
Riley Randolph (St. Petersburg, FL./Northeast HS) – who became FGCU's all-time leader in starts (92) in her last outing against No. 15 Indiana – allowed just one hit, the first batter she faced, in her 11th complete game of the season, moving to 9-5 overall. The senior retired Seton Hall's side in the third, fourth and fifth frames, while tossing 76 pitches with no walks.
Davenport capped off her night going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, finishing with eight RBI in total Friday evening.
Up Next
FGCU is back in action Saturday afternoon taking on Quinnipiac at 2:15 p.m. (field No. 4), followed by No. 21 Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. (field No. 9).
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.
