FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU softball team inserted yet another dose of dramatics Sunday to conclude the FGCU Kickoff Classic, walking-off LIU for a 4-3 victory at the FGCU Softball Complex.
The Eagles went to the come-from-behind well once again, as FGCU rallied in all three of its wins this weekend -- against UNCG once and LIU twice.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh and an Eagle standing on third with one out, sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) worked a nine-pitch at-bat to lift a fly ball to shallow right field. FGCU graduate student Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF) tagged up and sprinted for home -- avoiding the tag despite the ball beating her by nearly two steps to clinch the victory.
FGCU improved to 3-2 with its third straight win, while LIU fell to 1-4 to begin the season.
"Our players are working hard, and they fought until the end to be able to pull out another victory," said FGCU head softball coach David Deiros. "I'm proud of our effort, our togetherness and our enthusiasm. Looking forward to getting after it again next weekend."
The Sharks grabbed an early 2-0 lead, and maintained its advantage through 4 1/2 innings. FGCU would cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a Shark error, and Roper's two-run homer (her second blast of the weekend) in the following inning put the Eagles ahead 3-2. LIU answered in the sixth to knot it at three before Roper played hero one more time in the seventh.
Roper finished her heroic day 1-for-2 with three RBIs. For the weekend, she led FGCU in RBIs (7), while Filla tallied a team-leading six hits by producing at least one hit each of FGCU's five opening games.
FGCU collected a season-high eight hits Sunday against LIU, with senior Riley Oakes (Oviedo, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford) tallying two hits.
FGCU freshmen Tiffany Meek (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./William T. Dwyer HS), Nikki Gibson (Yorktown, Va./Grafton HS) and Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) each produced a hit. Gibson notched four hits and Chiarella added three over the three-game weekend.
Junior Claire Maulding (Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield HS/Lake Land College) was credited with her second win in the circle for FGCU on Sunday, tossing a hitless and scoreless final 1 1/3 innings.
FGCU returns to action next weekend hosting the FGCU Invitational at the FGCU Softball Complex. The Eagles will play six games in a span of three days beginning on Feb. 17 against FAU at 12:15 p.m. and then Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m. FGCU squares off against Lipscomb (10 a.m.) and Middle Tennessee (12:15 p.m.) on Feb. 18 before playing Boston College (11:15 a.m.) and FAU (1:30 p.m.) on Feb. 19.
For up-to-the-minute information on the FGCU softball program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_Softball, Instagram at fgcusoftball, Facebook, and stay tuned at FGCUAthletics.com.
FGCU Kickoff Classic:
Friday, Feb. 10
LIU vs UNCG (UNCG W, 6-2)
UNCG vs Binghamton (UNCG W, 8-0 in 5 inn.)
SIU vs LIU (SIU W, 3-0)
Binghamton @ FGCU (Binghamton W, 7-5)
SIU @ FGCU (SIU W, 6-3)
Saturday, Feb. 11
LIU vs Binghamton (LIU W, 4-0)
LIU vs FGCU (FGCU W, 5-3)
Binghamton vs (SIU, W 4-1)
UNCG vs FGCU (FGCU W, 4-3)
SIU vs UNCG (SIU W, 9-6)
Sunday, Feb. 12
UNCG vs Binghamton (UNCG, W 10-1 in 5 inn.)
LIU vs FGCU (FGCU 4-3)
COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros enters his 21st season as head coach in 2023. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the ground up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 709-399-3 (.638) record, gone 176-109 (.618) in the ASUN, had 16 seasons with a winning record and nine campaigns of 35+ wins. Deiros has also led the Eagles to three ASUN regular season championships (2008, 2012, and 2016) and one ASUN Tournament title (2012). In 2012, FGCU defeated No. 5 Florida in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season (2022), FGCU took down both No. 8 Texas and No. 10 Florida once again. 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 confererence regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. 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 four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
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