TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The FGCU softball team suffered two setbacks Friday during day two of the Unconquered Invitational.
FGCU lost a one-run battle in its first-ever meeting against Troy, 5-4. Entering the day, the Eagles were 2-0 in games decided by one run this season.
Later Friday, the Green & Blue put up another valiant effort against No. 6 Florida State, 7-2, as the Eagles dropped to 7-9 overall with its fifth straight loss. Troy improved to 8-3 and Florida State to 13-3.
"Two losses today, but truthfully the scores don't really indicate how close the games were and how hard we fought," said FGCU softball head coach David Deiros. "We'll keep going at it. We've got two more (Saturday), and then we are on our way home."
In the morning action against Troy, freshman Nikki Gibson (Yorktown, Va./Grafton HS) and sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) made history by turning the first-ever triple play in program history. With Trojans on first and second, Gibson snagged a line drive at first base to record the first out. She then stepped on first to double off the runner for the second out, and tossed the ball down to second as Roper stepped on the bag to triple off the other runner.
Troy drew first blood in the game courtesy of a fielder's choice the opening inning. FGCU responded in the next half-inning with an RBI single by senior Riley Oaks (Oviedo, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Radford) and a RBI sac fly by freshman Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) to put the Eagles ahead 2-1.
The Eagles' early lead was short-lived. The Trojans answered with a three-run home run to take a 4-2 advantage. Another Troy home run in the fourth made it 5-2.
FGCU battled back in the fifth to pull within one, as senior Neely Peterson (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Cypress Creek HS/Colorado State & Santa Fe College) produced a sacrifice fly to score Gibson. The Green & Blue brought the go-ahead run up to the plate in a final effort after a two-out single by Peterson, but Troy finished off the Eagles with a game-ending flyout.
FGCU matched Troy in terms of total hits with seven. Junior Claire Maulding (Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield HS/Lake Land College) was credited with her first loss of the season in the circle after starting the season 3-0.
The Eagles looked to redeem themselves against No. 6 Florida State by cleaning up their recent miscues -- taking advantage of a Seminoles throwing error to push across two runs in the second, silencing the crowd with the early lead.
However, FSU quickly knotted it up in the bottom of the second courtesy of a solo home run and an Eagles throwing error. The Seminoles scored once more in the third, once in the fourth, and three more times in the fifth.
FGCU managed only one baserunner from the third through the sixth innings. In the seventh, the Eagles were able to put two aboard to keep hopes alive -- but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Chiarella recorded two of FGCU's five hits against the Seminoles. Junior Caridad Estes (West Palm Beach, Fla./Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches/Ball State) connected on a third-inning double, and Gibson extended her reached-base streak to 16 games via two walks.
Despite not tallying an RBI in either game Friday, Roper still leads the ASUN with 14 RBIs.
FGCU will close out the Unconquered Invitational on Saturday against Troy and Lamar. The Eagles face Troy at 10 a.m. and end with Lamar at 12:15 p.m.
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.
Unconquered Invitational Results
Thursday:
FGCU 5, #6 FSU 13 (6 inn.)
Friday:
FGCU 4, Troy 5
Troy 8, Lamar 0
Lamar 0, #6 FSU 4
FGCU 2, #6 FSU 7
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 713-406-3 (.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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