MADEIRA BEACH FL – The FGCU softball team (12-5) split a pair of games Saturday evening, first taking down Incarnate Word (7-9) 8-0 via the run-rule before falling 7-1 in the nightcap to Iowa (13-3).
"We split a pair of games tonight and we were in the game against Iowa until one inning just got away from us, "said head coach
David Deiros. "We can put the first day of the tournament behind us now and focus our attention to tomorrow's matchup against Houston Baptist."
FGCU 8, UIW 0
The Eagles were quick to post a crooked number on the board, plating four runs on three hits in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded,
Reedy Davenport (St. Johns, FL/Bartram Trail HS) skied a sac fly to right field to score
Johneisha Rowe (Avon Park, FL/Sebring HS) from third. One batter later,
Hope Hernandez (Tampa, FL/Troy/Chamberlain HS) singled to short for the 2-0 lead.
Maddy Johnson (Lake Wales, FL/FSW/Lake Region HS
) bumped the lead to 3-0 hitting a chopper to second as
Abbey Thomas (Fort Myers, FL/Southwest Florida Christian Academy) capped off the scoring with a knock up the middle.
In the third frame, the Eagles recorded three hits, highlighted by Thomas' second RBI of the game, a base hit to center. FGCU scored two runs in the fifth, all coming with two outs.
McKenna Batterton (Norco, CA/Eleanor Roosevelt HS) tripled to left plating home Johnson who singled to lead off the frame. Rowe then brought home Batterton scorching a double to center.
The run-rule officially came into effect in the bottom of the sixth.
Mikenzie Vaughn (Kennesaw, GA/FSW/Harrison HS) singled to lead things off as
Ashley Hayes (Naples, FL/ Barron Collier HS) pinch ran for her. Up next, Davenport laid down a sac bunt as the UIW first baseman failed to secure the throw allowing Hayes to come around and score.
Starting pitcher
Sarah Lawton (Waterbury, CT/FSW/Holy Cross) tossed five innings of work, striking out six batters, moving her record to 6-1.
Iowa 7 | FGCU 1
The Hawkeyes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third with a grounder to first. The contest remained tight until Iowa broke the scoring open posting a four-run fifth inning using five hits. They would go on to tack on two more the very next frame to jump ahead, 7-0.
FGCU's run arrived in the bottom of the seventh off the bat of Johnson as she singled to the pitcher scoring Hernandez – reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on two wild pitches.
In the losing effort,
Marissa Mesiemore (Bushnell, FL/South Sumter HS) tossed 4.1 innings as she moves to 6-4 overall.
Taylor Bauman (Jacksonville, FL/Atlantic Coast HS) scattered just one hit while fanning two Hawkeyes in her two frames of work.
Up Next
FGCU returns to the diamond Saturday afternoon facing Houston Baptist at 4:30 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.
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COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros is in his 18th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 654-342-3 (.656), going 147-90 (.620) in the ASUN, having 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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 81 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just eight-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty-one consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall semester saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
