FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU softball utilized the walk-off well once again to take game one against Chattanooga 5-4 on Thursday.

Trailing by 4-3 heading into the seventh, FGCU's freshman Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) produced a one-out single down the left field line to provide the spark. Redshirt sophomore Meagan Ricks (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven HS) fanned the spark into a blaze with an RBI triple to knot the game at five apiece.

Enter hometown kid and graduate Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF).

Filla would then line a ball to right to safely bring home the winning run. Thursday's walk-off win over Chattanooga marked the third victory in such fashion this season for the Eagles. Filla has been on the thrilling end of two, including a walk-off grand slam over FAU.

"Extememly proud of our resiliency against a well-coached team that made the NCAA Tournament year ago," said FGCU softball head coach David Deiros. "We responded when we needed to each time, and Ally kept them off balance for most of the night. We had some timely hitting toward the end that pushed us over the top for an exciting finish. Looking forward to seeing what game two and game three have in store tomorrow."

FGCU improved to 16-12 in its third straight win, while the Mocs fell to 14-8 - snapping a five-game win streak.

Chiarella and freshman Nikki Gibson (Yorktown, Va./Grafton HS) led the Eagles' offensive attack with two hits apiece, accounting for four of FGCU's seven hits on the night. Of the seven hits, FGCU belted three triples courtesy of Ricks, Filla, and sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State).

FGCU would not lead until the final at-bat. 

Chattanooga scored once in the second and one in the third to take an early 2-0 lead. FGCU answered in the bottom of the third to pull within one and then tied the game in the fourth with a solo shot by senior Neely Peterson (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Cypress Creek HS/Colorado State & Santa Fe College), her first home run of the season.

In the fifth, The Mocs responded with two-run, home run off the top of the wall to take back the lead 4-2.

Fill's RBI triple in the bottom half of the inning pulled the Eagles to within one - setting up the March Madness version of softball for the final inning of play.

Entering Thursday, FGCU was 4-9 when the opponent scored first and 1-11 when trailing heading into the final frame.

Senior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS/State College of Florida) tossed a complete game, her second of the year, to snag her sixth win of the season. Hulme allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out two in 94 total pitches. She held the Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Emily Coltharp hitless. 

Hulme is now just 13 strikeouts away from surpassing Sarah Lawton to move into FGCU's all-time top 10 list in career strikeouts.

Friday's doubleheader against Chattanooga has now been moved up to a 3 p.m. start. The third and final game of the series will follow shortly after the conclusion of game two.

On Saturday, the Eagles welcome Jacksonville for its ASUN opener and Title IX: Women in Sports Day beginning at 4 p.m. with another doubleheader. FGCU will close out the three-game stand with the Dolphins on Sunday at 1 p.m. as kids 12 and under get to run the bases postgame.

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 722-409-3 (.636) 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 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 96 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 48 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. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport -- including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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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