FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (5-5) scored all three of its runs in the seventh inning to stun cross-state rival FAU (6-5) with a 3-2 win on Tuesday night.
Olivia Black lined a two-strike, one out pitch up the middle to score
Emily Chiarella and
Parris Wiggs for the Eagles' third walk-off win of the season.
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"We talk about selfless hitting all the time in practice," Black said. "My mindset going back into the box was 'Let me just do a job for my team. Let it not be about me, but about the girls on base, about the girls that are in the dugout.'"
Moments before Black's walk-off, assistant coach
Devyn Flaherty called a timeout after the count went to 0-2 to settle her down, and told her to hit the ball back up the middle. Black did exactly that to deliver the win.
One play earlier, Wiggs bounced a grounder to third base.
Tiffany Meek was caught in a pickle in between third and home, but forced four back-and-forth throws, staying away from the Owls infielders. The fifth throw to the plate was late, and Meek slid in headfirst to score FGCU's first run as the ball ended up on the infield dirt just feet away. Both Wiggs and Chiarella used the rundown to advance into scoring position, and the energy from the play carried into the walk-off.
"I think more than anything, it validates what we've been preaching to them since we got here," head coach
Lindsay Fico said. "Trusting the process, being all in on a game plan. It was a true group effort from 1 to 22. Everybody was ready … I think the win is great, but I was so impressed with the buy-in, and being all into our plan and staying in our dugout."
With the two-RBI walk-off single, Black extended her hitting & on-base streak to eight games. Her walk-off was also the Eagles' first hit in 2026 with a runner on third base and less than two outs.
Mackenzie Leiti went 2-for-3 for FGCU, including a seventh inning single before Chiarella entered as a pinch runner.
The game began as a pitcher's duel.
Grace Taylor (2-2) and FAU's Autumn Courtney matched zeroes through the first three innings. Neither pitcher allowed a hit the first time through the order.Â
FAU struck first in the top of the second with a Jesiana Mora double and Lily Holtje single to go up 1-0. FGCU got traffic on the basepaths in both the fourth and fifth innings, but left two runners on base in each frame. Â
The Owls added what, at the time, stood as an insurance run in the top of the seventh with a solo home run from Madison Inscoe. Taylor reentered the game and gave up a pair of hits, but got out of the inning without allowing a third run in what proved to be a pivotal moment, setting up for the Eagles' comeback.
Next, FGCU begins The Hampton Inn Gulf Coast Classic at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, February 20, against Louisville.
2026 softball season tickets, mini plans and single game tickets are on sale now at
https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/SB.Â
For more information on FGCU Softball, follow @FGCUSoftball on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit
fgcuathletics.com.
Postgame Notes
– The walk-off win was FGCU's third of the 2026 season after walking off Hofstra twice in the FGCU Eagle Invitational
– It's also the third unique inning for a walk-off, as the walk-offs against the Pride came in the 10th and 5th innings.
– Black extended her hitting and on-base streak to eight games with her two-RBI walk-off single
–
Mackenzie Leiti was the lone Eagle to collect a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3
– Chiarella scored her first run of 2026 pinch running for Leiti in the seventh
–
Grace Taylor posted four shutout innings (first, second, third and seventh – entered after the run was allowed) to earn the win and improve to 2-2 on the season
–
Ally Thompson drew a career high two walks
– FGCU trails in the all-time series 8-10, but is now 5-5 at home.
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