FORT MYERS, Fla. - Entering as the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference champion, the Florida Gulf Coast University softball team and head coach David Deiros announced the 2025 softball schedule today. The 2025 schedule features three tournaments hosted at FGCU, in addition to in-state battles at UCF, Florida and Florida State.

"I am excited to announce our 2025 softball schedule and look forward to our opportunity to get back out on the softball field to begin our ASUN title defense," head coach David Deiros said. "We have a good mix of returning, veteran leadership and impact newcomers that can make us dangerous on the diamond. It will be a fun year to be an Eagle and to watch Eagles softball."

FGCU will begin their title defense on February 6 when they host the Kickoff Classic. The tournament runs until the ninth. The Green and Blue will welcome Indiana State, Boston College, LIU and Boston University for the season-opening tournament. Boston College returns to Fort Myers for the Kickoff Classic for the second consecutive year while LIU will compete in its third-straight Kickoff Classic.

The second tournament for the Eagles will be the FGCU Invitational which includes Wisconsin, Seton Hall and Omaha. The Mavericks upset the seventh-ranked team in the country during last year's NCAA tournament.

Road tournaments become the norm after this stretch with the UCF and FSU tournaments. Florida State came to Fort Myers last year and were upset 3-1 March 8, 2024. Between these tournaments, the Green and Blue will return to the site of their 2024 NCAA Tournament appearance in Gainesville to face the Florida Gators.

From March 7-9, FGCU hosts its final non-conference tournament of the season as the Spring Break Classic features Columbia, Toledo and Lehigh.

ASUN Conference play begins March 15 with a home series against Jacksonville. The two day, three-game series format with a doubleheader followed by a single game will continue this conference season.

There is one major change to ASUN softball play this year. Teams are split geographically into Northwest and Southeast Divisions. FGCU is in the Southeast Division with Jacksonville, Stetson, West Georgia, Queens and UNF. Teams will face each other in each home ballpark with the exception of Queens (away, April 5 and 6) and UNF (home, May 2 and 3) who the Eagles only play for one series.

The Southeast Division had a statistically better season last year with an average RPI of 120.4 to the Northwest Division's 153 average RPI. The non-conference schedule is just as tough for the Eagles with nearly half (14 of 31) of the non-conference games being against RPI top 75 teams. The Green and Blue are a formidable opponent themselves, having finished the past two seasons as a top 75 RPI team.

The Green and Blue hope to return to the NCAA tournament in 2025. Allison Sparkman returns for FGCU, the now sophomore phenom peaked last year at sixth in the nation in ERA, ending the season ranked 28th. Sparkman's 2024 campaign saw her lead the team in ERA, WHIP, triples allowed and home runs allowed. Her 2024 ERA ranked fifth and her opponent batting average ranked sixth for a single season in the FGCU D-I era.

Outside the circle, many of the key field players return. Avery Viancos returns as the senior leader of the team after earning Second Team All-ASUN honors last year. Defensive standout and ASUN All-Tournament team member Tiffany Meek returns to second base. Nikki Gibson returns for her junior year after earning Third Team All-ASUN honors while pacing the conference in non-conference batting average. 

Single-game, group, and season tickets to FGCU softball are available by visiting FGCUTickets.com or by calling 1-866-FGCU-TIX (342-8849).