FORT MYERS, Fla. – Senior Reedy Davenport (St. Johns, Fla./Bartram Trail HS) hit a walk-off home run, Monday afternoon for the FGCU softball team as the Eagles defeated North Florida, 3-1. With the win, the Eagles snapped UNF's 13-game winning streak and improve to 8-18 and 1-2 in ASUN play while the Ospreys drop to 21-6 and 2-1 in conference play.

"A big win for us to get us off of our slide," said head coach David Deiros. "Hopefully it's a good sign for things to come, but truthfully, we've been playing in really tight games so it was about time we got some breaks and then Reedy comes up to go ahead and seal it. I also thought our outfield play was spectacular today and I think that's what saved us."

Junior Riley Oakes (Oviedo, Fla/Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford) started the game in the circle and threw 4.0 innings, striking out one while giving up one run. She also added two hits at the plate to round out a solid day. Junior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS/State College of Florida) took over in the circle for the final three innings and earned the win while not giving up a run.

The Eagles took the lead in the third as senior Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF), freshman Avery Viancos (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS), and Oakes strung together three straight hits to begin the inning and put a run on the board.

The Ospreys tied up the game in the fourth with a run on three hits.

The game remained tied until the seventh. Junior Neely Peterson (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Cypress Creek HS/Colorado State/Santa Fe College) led off the inning with an infield single. After Halle Arends got one out, Davenport ended the game as she smacked a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall to send the Eagles home happy.

The Eagles will return to the field next weekend for another ASUN series as they welcome Central Arkansas to the FGCU Softball Complex. The two teams will play a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Saturday before playing a single game on Sunday at 1 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 696-382-3 (.653), 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 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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.