FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (4-5) will take on FAU (6-4) in a cross-state showdown at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17 at the FGCU Softball Complex.

FGCU is 4-5 after two weekends of play. The Eagles swept Hofstra, 4-3 (10 innings) and 10-2 (5 innings) at the FGCU Eagle Invitational. Freshman Mackenzie Leiti walked off both games – with a bases-loaded walk in extra innings, and with a RBI single in the run-rule victory. Leiti also hit her first career homer on the weekend.


Olivia Black has led FGCU at the plate with a .467 average, .529 OBP and 1.062 OPS. Leiti, Sietske Drijvers and Kiki Daniels have homered; Drijvers and Tiffany Meek have a team-high six RBI.

Julia Bacoulis has racked up strikeouts in the circle, tallying 19 to pair with a team-best .196 opponent average in 14.2 innings pitched. Victoria Ash leads the staff with a 2.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 14.0 innings of work.

The Owls enter at 6-4 after battling three top-10 opponents at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational. FAU fell 8-0 to Texas Tech, 9-5 to Florida State, and 8-0 to Tennessee, along with a close 2-0 loss to Mizzou. The Owls did notch a 12-3 win over James Madison in Clearwater, and opened with a trio of Big 10 wins – 10-6 over Ohio State, 8-0 over Indiana and 4-3 over Wisconsin.

Jesiana Mora leads FAU with a .500 average through 10 games. She and Kylie Hammonds have each homered twice. McKenna Mulholland has a team-best 10 RBI with a 1.338 OPS. In the circle, Makenna Lee (2-0) boasts a 2.14 ERA with 12 strikeouts through 16.1 innings pitched. Autumn Courtney has struck out 18 across 17.1 innings, and has a 3.63 ERA.

FGCU trails in the all-time series 7-10 and is 4-5 at home. The series will renew for the first time since 2024, when the two squads met in the NCAA Tournament and in the regular season.

2026 softball season tickets, mini plans and single game tickets are on sale now at https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/SB. 

For more information on FGCU Softball, follow @FGCUSoftball on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.