TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The FGCU softball team (6-8) fell to Southeastern Louisiana (7-6) in the first game of the day, 1-0, before taking down FAMU (0-4), 9-1, in five innings in the final day of the FSU Unconquered Invitational Sunday afternoon.
"We played well enough to sweep today but just couldn't come up with the big hit in game one that we got in game two," said head coach
David Deiros. "Taylor and Angie were excellent today and that is critical to our success. We have to get back to work this week as we have our last non-conference tournament next weekend."
Game 1 | SE Louisiana 1, FGCU 0
Following a scoreless first inning, the Lady Lions secured the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the second. A walk and an Eagle miscue put runners on first and second before a passed ball moved them over into scoring position. From there, a single to center field scratched the only run across the board.
The Eagles threatened in the top of the fourth putting runners on second and third with no outs.
Abbey Thomas (Fort Myers, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) drew a leadoff walk as
Arielle Fears (Melbourne Beach, Fla./Melbourne HS) ran for her.
Hope Hernandez (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain HS/Troy) then laced a single to center, moving from second on the throw to third. It was all FGCU would get as two infield pop flies and a strikeout ended the top half.
FGCU left three runners on over the next three innings, putting the tying run on second base in the fifth frame. The Eagles out-hit the Lady Lions 5-4, stranding seven total base runners. In the circle,
Taylor Bauman (Jacksonville, Fla./Atlantic Coast HS) fanned two batters and conceded two walks in her six innings of work.
Game 2 | FGCU 9, FAMU 1 (5 innings)
FGCU kicked off the scoring in the first as Thomas roped an RBI double to center, scoring
Hannah Shemansky (Lakeland, Fla./Santa Fe Catholic) from first, who singled earlier. The Eagles soon ballooned their lead to 5-0 in the next frame.
Farley Callaghan (Ponte Vedra, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) started the inning off with a base hit before Fears was brought in to run.
Fears would swipe second but then was called out at third after
McKenna Batterton (Norco, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) moved to second on her base hit.
Amaya Gainer singled to put runners on the corners as
Ahnie Jumper (Clewiston, Fla./American Plantation Heritage) scored Batterton on a base hit of her own to left.
Reedy Davenport (St. Johns, Fla./Bartram Trail HS) walked to load the bags which allowed pinch-hitter
Haley Morrell (Tampa, Fla./Academy of Holy Names) to clear them on 3-0 pitch, a double to left-center.
The Eagles added to their lead in the bottom of the third using a one-out double from Callaghan who scored two batters later on a two-out single from Gainer. FAMU pushed a run across in the top of the fourth but FGCU responded with three in its half.
Johneisha Rowe (Avon Park, Fla./Sebring HS) singled and swiped second, while Thomas walked to set the stage for Bauman who cranked her second homer of the year over the left-field fence.
From there, Bonilla yielded just one hit in the final frame as a double play from left field back to the first base bag ended the game. In her complete-game effort, Bonilla scattered five hits, with just one walk as she struck out a season-high four batters.
At the plate, FGCU manufactured 11 hits with Gainer going 2-for-3 and Callaghan going 2-for-2. Morrell and Bauman each registered three RBI.
Up Next
FGCU will travel to Leesburg, Fla., for The SPRING Games Mar. 5-7. On Friday, the Eagles will kick off the tournament facing South Dakota (1-5) at 4 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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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros is in his 19th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 667-353-3 (.652), going 147-90 (.620) in the ASUN, having 14 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 83 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 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 (No. 24, 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each 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.
