FORT MYERS, Fla. – After being on the road for the past two weekends, the FGCU softball team (9-10) is back at The Nest hosting Stetson to start conference action.
The Green and Blue
In its final non-conference tournament of the season, FGCU went 3-2 at The Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla., highlighted by a 21-3 win over South Dakota and a sweep of North Dakota and Toledo on the final day. In 19 games so far,
Hope Hernandez (Tampa Bay, Fla./Chamberlain HS/Troy) leads the squad with a .339 BA, tacking on five doubles and four RBI. Meanwhile,
Taylor Bauman (Jacksonville, Fla./Atlantic Coast HS) leads FGCU in RBI (eight) and home runs (two).
In the circle, four pitchers have seen action with
Marissa Mesiemore (Bushnell, Fla./South Sumter HS) collecting four wins while
Sarah Lawton (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross HS/FSW) is 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA.
Stetson Hatters
The Hatters were also at The Spring Games this past weekend as they went 1-3 to sit at 2-6 overall this season. They have a doubleheader on tap Wednesday afternoon versus South Dakota before arriving at FGCU. Riley Russell is hitting .391 with three RBI as Lizzie Shubert has brought in a team-best eight runners across home plate.
In the circle, Jamie Tino and Chloe Temple have both wins for the Hatters.
All-Time Series
FGCU trails the series, 19-17 but have won the last five of seven games. At home, the Eagles are 13-3 against the Hatters.
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.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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 670-355-3 (.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 84 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.
