FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (9-18, 3-0 ASUN) dropped Wednesday's midweek game to (RV) South Florida (24-8, 6-0 American) 9-1 at the FGCU Softball Complex.

The Eagles and Bulls played in front of a packed house at the FGCU Softball Complex. The attendance of 810 ranks as the third-largest crowd in FGCU Softball Complex history. That trails only the 1,109 that witnessed back-to-back games against No. 1 Alabama and Wichita State in a single attendance session on Feb. 15 2013, and the crowd of 1,016 that saw the Eagles face Western Michigan on Mar. 8, 2024.

The crowd of 810 tonight is the second-largest crowd to ever watch an FGCU-USF softball game, behind only the 907 that saw the two teams battle in a doubleheader on Feb. 22, 2023.

The Bulls won behind a five-run fifth inning. Dania Brooks went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a double for USF; Alex Wilkes and Toryn Fulton each added two hit games with a double and two runs scored.

USF opened the scoring in the second inning, pushing one run across on an error. Brooks made it  2-0 in the fourth with an RBI double. In the fifth, the Bulls got three straight one out singles to load the bases before a walk brought the first run of the inning across. Karhys Pierce singled in another run, and Brooks cleared the bases after a hit and error that put South Florida up 7-0.

Sophie Wylie broke up the shutout in the bottom half of the fifth with a leadoff solo home run to left field, her first of the season. Wylie's homer is the seventh in three games for FGCU. It's the first time the Eagles have homered in three consecutive games since May 7-11, 2023.

The Bulls scored two more in the sixth and held FGCU scoreless in the bottom half of the frame to win 9-1.

Mackenzie Leiti went 2-for-2 with a walk for the Eagles in the loss. Parris Wiggs singled and walked for FGCU, which had four walks as a team to go with its four hits.

Next, FGCU stays at home for its second conference series of 2026 and first in Fort Myers against Stetson (18-11, 3-0), beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. 

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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