FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2022 season is just two days old, but the FGCU softball team may have the upset of the year so far as the Eagles defeated consensus top-10 team Texas, 6-4, Friday evening at the FGCU Softball Complex.

The Eagles move to 2-1 on the season while the Longhorns, ranked as high as #8 in the D1Softball.com poll, fall to 1-1. Texas had defeated #15 Clemson, 4-0, earlier in the day for its first win.

It is the second straight season the Eagles have picked up a win over a ranked opponent on the opening weekend as the Eagles defeated #21 UCF last season. It is also the highest ranked win the Green and Blue has had since its 2-1 win over #6 Florida in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

"Great job by our players," said head coach David Deiros. "I think they played really well in all three facets of the game. Kudos to Emily [Estroff] for a fantastic start and Riley Oakes for taking us home. Our bats were pretty good all game long as we did a really nice job on O'Leary, who's an All-American. I'm really proud of our effort and we're ready to get out there tomorrow."

Senior Emily Estroff (Cocounut Creek, Fla./Coral Springs Charter HS/Villanova) was superb in the circle and at the plate as she allowed just three earned runs on five hits while striking out three in six innings against a team that had the 3rd most hits and 14th most runs scored in the nation in 2021. In addition to her pitching performance, she also went 2-for-3 at the dish with three RBI.

Senior Reedy Davenport (St. Johns, Fla./Bartram Trail HS) also had a big day with the bat as she drove in two runs on two hits while also scoring a run.

Texas jumped out to an early lead with a run in both the first and second inning, but the Eagles answered in the bottom of the second with four runs off of All-American pitcher Shea O'Leary.

With two runners on, Estroff tripled to right field to drive in both teammates, tying the game at two. Davenport followed with double to left to give the Eagles the lead before advancing to third on a groundout and coming home on a wild pitch, extending the FGCU lead to 4-2 after two innings.

In the bottom of the third, FGCU extended its lead thanks to two Longhorn errors to begin the inning. As was the case the inning prior, Estroff and Davenport came through with back-to-back RBI knocks. With the bases loaded, Estroff laced a clean single up the middle to drive in a run before Davenport got jammed and popped up toward the pitcher. However, a reaching attempt by Estelle Czech came up short, allowing everyone to advance a base and extend the Eagle lead to 6-2.

After the Eagles took the lead in the second, Estroff retired side in order in the third before making it six in a row in the fourth. The Longhorns cut their deficit in half in the fifth with two runs, but with runners on first and second, Estroff induced a ground ball to third where junior Jordyn Gendron (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS) scooped it up, stepped on third, and fired to first for the inning-ending double play.

In the sixth, Estroff worked around a one-out double to escape unscathed as the Eagles entered the final inning with a two-run lead.

Junior Riley Oakes (Oviedo, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford) came in to pitch the seventh and shut the door, getting three flyouts to secure the save.

The Eagles will get a chance to do it all again tomorrow as they face the Longhorns again at the FGCU Softball Complex on day three of the Kickoff Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 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.

COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros is in his 20th season as head coach during the 2022 campaign. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 690-365-3 (.654), going 162-93 (.632) in the ASUN, having 15 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.

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!

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.