DeLAND, Fla. – The fourth-seeded FGCU softball team staved off elimination Thursday in the ASUN Tournament, outlasting the third-seeded Jacksonville State Gamecocks 6-4 at Patricia Wilson Field.
The Eagles (32-25) advance in the loser's bracket to face top-seeded Central Arkansas at 3 p.m. Friday. The Eagles/Bears matchup will air on ESPN+.
Central Arkansas drummed seventh-seeded Austin Peay 10-1 in five innings of Thursday's nightcap to force a date with the Eagles. In the first game of the day, fifth-seeded North Alabama upset the Bears, knocking them into the loser's bracket. Central Arkansas (40-10) swept FGCU in the regular season.
"We earned this win today," said FGCU softball head coach David Deiros. "And we deserved this win today. We looked more comfortable, and executed our game plan. Looking forward to transitioning this momentum into Friday. We have faced UCA before, so we know what we need to do."
FGCU set the tone early Thursday against JSU, as senior catcher Neely Peterson (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Cypress Creek HS/Colorado State & Santa Fe College) threw out a stealing Gamecock in the opening inning.
Peterson followed in the second with a solo shot deep to left-center to spark the Eagles' offensive barrage. FGCU scattered 12 hits Thursday, including two homers. FGCU even smacked nine hits off ASUN Freshman of the Year Jaliyah Holmes.
Four Eagles -- Peterson, freshman Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS), redshirt sophomore Meagan Ricks (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven HS), and graduate Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF) -- produced two or more hits.
FGCU held tight to its one-run lead until the top of the fifth, breaking the game wide open. The Eagles managed to push across a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a commanding 5-0 lead.
In the fifth, Chiarella scored on a Gamecocks throwing error, and Filla recorded her 32nd RBI of the season with a RBI single up the middle.
FGCU took advantage of another JSU error caused by the Eagles' basepath speed, scoring sophomore McKenzie Wittenberg (Fort Myers, Fla./Riverdale HS/Florida SouthWestern State & Louisiana). Senior Abbey Thomas (Fort Myers, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) later drilled the first pitch she saw in a pinch-hit situation for an RBI double to afford FGCU a 5-0 lead through 6½ innings.
The Gamecocks made things interesting in the bottom of the sixth. Fueled by a leadoff home run, JSU used a four-run sixth to pull within one, 5-4.
Senior Baylee Haggard (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge HS/Florida SouthWestern State & South Florida State College) came in relief of starter Angelina Bonilla (Coral Gables, Fla./Coral Gables HS), and senior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS State College of Florida) to eventually stanch the scoring flow.
FGCU was not fazed in the apparent shift of momentum, as Ricks snatched it right back by in the top of the seventh with a solo homer -- providing valuable breathing room for a 6-4 lead heading into the final bottom half.
In the bottom of the seventh, Haggard worked around an one-out JSU single to advance the Eagles into Friday's action.
Bonilla earned her 11th win of the season in the circle for the Eagles, scattering four hits over four scoreless innings before eventually being credited with three runs.
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 is in his 21st season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the ground up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 738-422-3 (.635) record, gone 189-120 (.614) 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 98 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. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 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 3.67 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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