| FGCU Softball Notes & Information |
| Games |
FGCU (28-17) @ Kennesaw State (24-23) |
| Dates & Times |
Thursday, May 13 (5:30 pm) |
| Location |
Kennesaw, Ga. // Bailey Park |
| ASUN Bracket |
Here |
| Live Stats |
Here |
| Watch (ESPN +) |
Here |
| Twitter |
@FGCU_Softball |
| Instagram |
@FGCUSoftball |
| Facebook |
FGCU Softball |
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU softball team continues its quest for an ASUN title as the Eagles take on host Kennesaw State Thursday evening in the semifinals bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
The remaining two teams in the tournament consist of No. 25 Liberty (39-13) and Jacksonville (28-18).
RPI Standings
Liberty - 19
Kennesaw State - 59
FGCU - 81
Jacksonville - 123
The Green and Blue
The top four seeds in the ASUN hosted the quarterfinals series last weekend as FGCU swept Stetson Friday night to advance. The Eagles claimed game one, 5-2, before going into an 11-inning battle to come out on top, 1-0, thanks to a walk-off RBI single off the bat of
Abbey Thomas. Starting pitcher
Sarah Lawton tossed a two-hit complete game in the process, giving up just one walk while fanning six batters.
Leaderboard
BA – Johneisha Rowe (.348)
RBI – Reedy Davenport (27)
Hits – Johneisha Rowe (48)
Runs – Johneisha Rowe (36)
Home Runs – Taylor Bauman (5)
Walks – Reedy Davenport (15)
On-Base % – McKenna Batterton (.427)
ERA – Sarah Lawton (1.90)
Wins – Marissa Mesiemore (16)
Strikeouts – Sarah Lawton (67)
Innings pitched – Marissa Mesiemore (126.1)
Kennesaw State
The No. 2 seed out of the North (swept North Alabama last weekend), the Owls' lineup features four batters with over 20 RBI led by Taylor Cates (32). Meanwhile, Brea Dickey leads the squad in BA (.377), runs (34), hits (55), and doubles (11). In the circle for KSU, Melanie Bennett is 17-10 in 35 outings with 18 complete games and a 1.99 ERA.
In the only meeting of the year back in April, KSU defeated FGCU 8-0 in six innings. All time, FGCU leads the series 25-13, having won the last four of five meetings.
#25 Liberty
The Lady Flames (No. 1 North seed) entered last weekend one vote shy of cracking into the top 25 but are in this week at No. 25 after taking two of three from Lipscomb. At the plate, Kara Canetto is hitting .379 with 10 doubles and 21 RBI. Amber Bishop has driven in a team-best 45 runners while hitting .377 to go along with a .677 slugging percentage – her 16 home runs rank 17th in the country.
Five pitchers have been tossed into the rotation led by Emily Kirby who owns a 1.79 ERA and is 13-5.
Liberty is 3-2 all-time against FGCU. The last time both teams met was in 2019 where Liberty took all three games in Fort Myers.
Jacksonville
The Dolphins (No. 3 South seed) claimed two of three from North Florida last weekend. Samantha Poehlman leads the Dolphins at the plate hitting .325 while scoring 30 runs. In the RBI column, Madison Kennedy has driven in 32 runners, pairing that with eight homers,
In the circle for JU, four pitchers have been thrown into the mix as Alyssa Bilodeau is 13-7 with a 1.26 ERA.
FGCU is 4-2 this season against JU, and leads the all-time series, 31-7.
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 689-362-3 (.655), going 162-93 (.632) 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 85 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 39 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.
