CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (7-17, 1-0 ASUN) erupted in the eighth inning for a 7-1 win in the ASUN opener against Queens (6-14, 0-1). 

The Eagles and Royals entered extra innings tied at 1. Queens added its only run of the game with a second inning sac fly from Caylin Herring to score Lindsay Henson. FGCU leveled the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning when Parris Wiggs doubled in Olivia Black. 

In the eighth, Wiggs worked a one-out walk, and Nikki Gibson and Sophie Wylie followed with singles to load the bases. Ally Thompson stepped up to the plate and delivered her first career extra-base hit with a bases-clearing triple that put FGCU up 4-1.
 

DO A JOB, ALLY 🔥

bases-clearing triple for @allykthompson and we lead 4-1 in the eighth!
📺 ESPN+#SOAR // #Team24 // #WingsUp pic.twitter.com/B0m6Hf6Oal
— FGCU Softball (@FGCU_Softball) March 14, 2026
  

Thompson scored on a wild pitch shortly thereafter. Sietske Drijvers and Kiki Daniels kept the hit parade going with a pair of singles and stolen bases to get into scoring position for Tiffany Meek. She capped off the inning by hitting a single to right center that scored both Drijvers and Daniels and gave the Eagles a 7-1 lead.

The six-run cushion was more than enough for Julia Bacoulis, who induced three straight outs in short order in the bottom half of the eighth to give the Eagles the conference-opening win.

Bacoulis worked out of jams on multiple occasions, as the Eagles' staff stranded 11 Royals throughout the contest, including two in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh.

Sietske Drijvers had her first three-hit game of the season in the win, going 3-for-5 with a double and run scored. Wiggs, Meek and Bacoulis also had multi-hit games for FGCU.

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

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