TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The FGCU softball team dropped a hard-fought 13-5 battle against No. 6 Florida State on Thursday to begin the Unconquered Invitational.
Thursday's six-inning, run-rule defeat against the Seminoles is not indicative of how the Eagles pushed their nationally ranked opponents. With its third straight loss, FGCU fell to 7-7, while Florida State improved to 11-3.
"Really good effort from our team tonight," said FGCU head softball coach David Deiros. "We battled hard and we fought back. We just can't give that many free opportunities, in the terms of walks and errors to extend the innings -- and not finishing plays. We can't do that to a good team and expect to come out unscathed. They are the No. 6 team in the country for a reason. We will get after it (Friday), as we have two games and another chance to go after them, so we will see how we do."
FSU opened with a two-run shot off of Eagles starter senior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS/State College of Florida). The Green & Blue answered with a run in the top of the second, as sophomore McKenzie Wittenberg (Fort Myers, Fla./Riverdale HS/Florida SouthWestern State & Louisiana) scored on a wild pitch.
Florida State's second-inning effort was extended by an FGCU fielding error. The Seminoles took advantage of the miscue to plate three runs and lead 5-1 through three.
FGCU continued to trade blows with Florida State almost stride-for-stride, answering with a three-run home run off sophomore Kayleigh Roper's (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) bat. After 3 1/2 innings, FGCU clawed back to within one. Roper's home run marked her ASUN leading third blast of the season.
The Seminoles would push across two runs off an another Eagles fielding miscue in the bottom of the frame to extend its lead out to three. Yet again and for the third straight inning, the Eagles responded as freshman Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) produced an RBI single in the top of the fourth to make it 7-5.
Chiarella made spectacular running grab into the outfield wall in the first inning to solidify that the Eagles had came to play.
In the fifth, the Eagles stranded the bases-loaded facing another three-run deficit, 8-5. FSU tacked on four in the sixth to call it a night.
The Seminoles scored seven of their 13 runs on two outs, scoring at least one run in each of the six-inning affair.
Six different Eagles recorded a hit against the nationally ranked ACC pitching staff. Freshman Nikki Gibson's (Yorktown, Va./Grafton HS) first-inning single extended her on-base streak out to 14 games. Offensively, FGCU had its chances, leaving a total of eight Eagles on the base paths.
FGCU will face Troy at 10 a.m. and No. 6 Florida State again at 4:45 p.m on Friday for day two of the Unconquered Invitational. On Saturday, the Eagles will then play Troy once more at 10 a.m. and finish with Lamar at 12:15 p.m.
The second FGCU-FSU matchup will also be aired on ACCN Extra.
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.
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 713-404-3 (.637) 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, FGCUdefeated 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 FGCUCampus 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 conference 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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