FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU softball team will kick off a 10-game road game stretch beginning this weekend with a series at Kennesaw State.

The Green and Blue will battle the Owls in a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. Game three of the weekend series will follow on Sunday at noon.

After being swept by first-place Liberty this past holiday weekend, the Eagles sit at 13-28 overall and 6-12 in the ASUN, fifth in the ASUN East Division race. Kennesaw State enters the weekend against FGCU at 12-25 overall and 4-11 in the ASUN, sixth in the east. Both teams eye to snap a six-game skid.

The top three teams from each ASUN division will earn an automatic berth into the eight-team ASUN Championship. The selection of the seventh team will be determined by comparison of fourth-place divisional finishers based on winning percentage in all ASUN games, divisional and crossover. The eighth team will be determined by comparing the remaining fourth-place divisional finisher with the opposite division fifth-place finisher.

To determine tiebreakers, the ASUN will use the criteria below in order:

1. Head to Head. Compare tied teams' (two or more) win-loss percentage versus all teams involved in tie.

2. Common ASUN Opponents. Compare tied teams' (two or more) win-loss percentage versus all common ASUN opponents.

3. NCAA sport-specific metric. Compare tied teams' (two or more) RPI available on the day following the conclusion of ASUN regular season play.

In the all-time series record against the Owls, FGCU leads Kennesaw State 25-14 dating back to 2008. Kennesaw State won the last two meetings back in 2021, 8-0 and 8-1.

Defensively this season, the Eagles boast a .968 fielding percentage, ranking No. 63 in the nation. The Eagles rank top 50 in double plays turned per game, tied at No. 47. FGCU's strength of schedule currently ranks No. 27 in the country.

Offensively, Cana Davis ranks fifth in the ASUN in home runs with eight. Davis leads the Eagle squad in batting average (.375), multi-hit games (8), multi-RBI games (6) and in slugging percentage (.721).

Both Emily Esteroff and Riley Oakes sit near the .300 mark at the plate. As a team, FGCU is hitting .247 and third in the ASUN in triples with nine.

In the circle, Eagles ace Ally Hulme is nine strikeouts shy of hitting the 100 strikeout total for the season. Hulme is 9-12 on the year with a team-leading ERA of 2.80 in 122.1 innings of work. As a pitching staff, the Eagles are holding opposing teams to a .288 batting average up at the plate.

In game three against Liberty, both Estroff and Hulme combined to only allow three runs on six hits to a squad that was leading the conference in batting average (.325), on base percentage (.403), slugging percentage (.552), runs scored (85), home runs (18) and in RBIs (79) entering the Easter Weekend.

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE

The Owls suffered road series sweeps to both Liberty and North Florida in their last two outings, losing two one-run ball games and not allowing more than eight runs in any game.

At the plate, Taylor Cates leads the Owls behind the fourth-best batting average in the ASUN at .378, to go along with 14 multihit games this season. Cates also is tied for second in the conference the home run category with 12.

Only two Owls are hitting above .300 this campaign, Cates and Cheyanne Sales. As a team, Kennesaw State has notched the third-most doubles in conference action with 18, boasting a team slugging percentage of .393.

Melanie Bennett has fanned 120 batters in the circle for the Owls, the third-most in the ASUN this season. Bennett (9-13) holds a 3.23 ERA in 134.1 innings of work. Emily Perrin has added two wins in the circle in 38.0 innings pitched.

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 701-392-3 (.640), going 166-104 (.615) 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 92 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 44 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.