FORT MYERS, Fla. – Founding father of Florida Gulf Coast University Softball and head coach
David Deiros secured his 800th win on Friday with the doubleheader win against West Georgia, 8-0 and 9-7.
Deiros has won the most games of any coach at FGCU in any sport. During his tenure at the helm of Eagles softball, he has coached five players of the year, two pitchers of the year, two freshmen of the year, two tournament MVPs, one defensive player of the year, 32 All-Conference players, 18 All-Freshmen players, 12 All-Academic players, 30 ASUN Players of the Week and 20 ASUN Pitchers of the Week.
The first game of the day saw
Allison Sparkman enter the circle and throw the first one-hit shutout since March 16, 2024 when Sparkman combined with
Claire Maulding for the shutout of Queens.
Emily Chiarella continued her torrid pace at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance, reaching base all four times she was at the plate, bringing her batting average to .875 in the prior four games.
The Eagles got the scoring going early with three runs in the first inning and added four more in the second and third innings with two two-RBI hits.
Maddox Thomas brought in two with a single in the second and
Emily Chiarella tripled home two after putting the ball over the center fielder's head.
Alexis Cowles came up in the sixth in pinch hit duties and drove in Chiarella for the run-rule clinching run.
Coming back for the doubleheader, FGCU fell behind 5-0 early but answered with two runs in the first and four in the second to retake the lead. The scoring was highlighted by an
Olivia Black triple that cleared the bases in the second.
The Wolves would claw back the lead in the fourth with two runs before FGCU answered with three runs of their own, capped off by a
Sophie Wylie two-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth.
That would be all the scoring for the game as the Green and Blue won 9-7. The Eagles return to action at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
