FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU softball team picked up the series victory over Central Arkansas on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 win in the rubber game. The Eagle improve to 10-19 overall and 3-3 in the ASUN while the Bears fall to 15-10 and 1-2 in the ASUN.

"Things aren't easy for us right now, but we are battling," said head coach David Deiros. "I can't be any prouder of our team for making it happen today. We've got some time off so we'll be ready to go for next week."

Junior Riley Oakes (Oviedo, Fla/Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford), senior Emily Estroff (Coconut Creek, Fla./Coral Springs HS/Villanova), and junior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS/State College of Florida) combined for the shutout while allowing just three hits. Oakes struck out two while Hulme fanned four batters in just two innings of work.

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead as senior McKenna Batterton (Norco, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) hit a single before coming around to score on a base knock by graduate student Hope Hernandez (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain HS/Troy).

The score remained the same until the fifth when Oakes helped herself with an RBI groundout to drive in senior Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF), who had doubled to lead off the inning.

Hulme entered the circle in the sixth and struck out the side. In the seventh, she allowed a leadoff single, but another strikeout, a pop-up, and a groundout ended the game, securing the victory for the Eagles.

FGCU will return to action next weekend when it travels to Nashville to take on Lipscomb. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. 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 698-383-3 (.653), going 165-96 (.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.