FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU softball team split day-one action of the FGCU Invitational on Friday.

The Eagles blanked the Florida Atlantic 5-0 for its first shutout of the season, but fell 6-3 to Middle Tennessee in the ensuing contest.

With the split, FGCU is now 4-3 on the young season. The Green & Blue will face Lipscomb (1-3) at 10 a.m. Saturday and Middle Tennessee (5-2) at 12:15 p.m. on day two of the FGCU Invitational.

"Proud of our shut-down pitching performance, especially in the opening game," said FGCU head softball coach David Deiros. "We got some timely hits, and our defense was flying around making plays behind Ally. Got punched in the mouth to start the second game, but we battled to make Middle Tennessee earn it. Looking forward to tomorrow's opportunity."

Senior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS/State College of Florida) tossed a complete game to lift the Eagles to victory against FAU, allowing four hits and striking five. The last FGCU complete-game shutout occurred April 3, 2022, against Jacksonville State at the hands of Hulme (1-1). At one point, Hulme retired 12 connective FAU batters.

Offensively, FGCU produced a season-high nine hits against the Owls. Both sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) and senior Riley Oakes (Oviedo, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford) led the charge with two hits apiece.

The Eagles lit up the scoreboard in the third courtesy of a two-run homer by graduate Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF), her second of the year. Peterson's 2-run, RBI double in the fourth, and Roper's RBI single in the sixth guided FGCU to its 5-0 victory over the in-state foe. Entering the weekend, Roper was tied for the league lead in RBIs.

In game two, FGCU's four-game win streak would crumble against Middle Tennessee. 

The Blue Raiders opened with a 3-run home run to begin the game and added two in the third for a 5-0 advantage through three complete innings.

FGCU finally showed signs of life in the fifth as Filla extended her hit streak to seven with an RBI-single, scoring senior Abbey Thomas (Fort Myers, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy).

Thomas led all Eagles in hits against the Blue Raiders with two, finishing 2-for-3 up at the plate and a run scored.

In the seventh, FGCU was able to push across two runs but its late-inning rally and another come-from-behind effort inevitably came up short.

Senior Baylee Haggard (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge HS/Florida SouthWestern State/South Florida State College) (1-1) was credited with the loss in the circle for the Eagles. Junior Claire Maulding (Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield HS/Lake Land College) pitched 5.0 innings of relief work, surrendering only one run on just two hits.

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 Invitational Schedule: 

Day 1 (Friday, Feb. 17)
10 AM Lipscomb vs FAU (Lipscomb W, 4-2)
12:15 PM FAU @ FGCU (FGCU W, 5-0)
2:30 PM Lipscomb vs Boston College (Boston College W, 13-2 (5 inn.)
5 PM MTSU @ FGCU (MTSU W, 6-3)
7:30 PM Boston College vs MTSU (Boston College W, 4-3)

Day 2 (Saturday, Feb. 18)
10 AM Lipscomb @ FGCU
12:15 PM MTSU @ FGCU 
2:30 PM FAU vs Lipscomb 
5 PM MTSU vs Boston College
7:30 PM Boston College vs FAU

Day 3 (Sunday, Feb. 19)
9 AM MTSU vs Lipscomb 
11:15 AM Boston College @ FGCU 
1:30 PM FAU @ FGCU

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 710-400-3 (.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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