FORT MYERS, Fla. –
Ana Richiez hit her first home run as an Eagle, while pitching 3.1 innings without allowing an earned run in the two victories for Florida Gulf Coast University softball on Friday against Boston College, 6-4, and Indiana State, 3-2.
"It was great to see the team bounce back from a close loss on Friday," FGCU head coach
David Deiros said. "Richie was phenomenal for us today and the entire team battled. I think Avery played great today both at the plate and in center."
The first game for FGCU (2-1) was a battle of the Eagles against Boston College (1-2). The Green and Blue pounced on BC early, putting up four runs in the first.
Nikki Gibson got the scoring started with a two-RBI single on a full count to drive home
Avery Viancos and
Tiffany Meek, extending her hitting streak to 12 games.
In the next at-bat, Richiez turned on a ball. It was a no-doubter that Gibson turned around midway between second and third to watch the ball soar over the left field wall.
Boston College bounced back the next half-inning with two runs of their own before Viancos singled to center to bring in
Olivia Black. Black would add one insurance run in the sixth off a sacrifice fly to bring home
Camryn Feast for the sixth run of the game.
FGCU stole five bases against Boston College. This is the first time the Green and Blue have accomplished that feat this year, having done it five times last season. The last time FGCU swiped seven stolen base game was at Austin Peay on April 27, 2024.
The Green and Blue followed the BC duel immediately with a game against Indiana State (0-2).
The game started with neither team being able to put up much of any offense until the bottom of the third. The Eagles came alive in the third frame with Viancos bringing home Black after fouling off four pitches and Meek coming home on a Richiez sacrifice bunt for a two-run frame.
The Eagles would score one more on a bunt by
Maddox Thomas that was placed where the pitcher could throw no one out, and the necessary insurance run came across.
FGCU returns for the third day of the FGCU Kickoff Classic on Saturday with games scheduled to start against LIU at 2:30 p.m. and Boston University at 7:30 p.m.
