FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (5-13) heads to the east coast for a pair of midweek games against FIU (17-3) and FAU (16-6) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

FGCU will face FIU at 6 p.m. on Tuesday before taking on FAU at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Eagles enter the week after battling No. 10 Florida State and Rutgers at the Unconquered Invitational in Tallahassee. FGCU pushed the top-10 Seminoles in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader after a fifth inning Mackenzie Leiti homer that put FGCU on top 3-0. The Seminoles came back, though, scoring five runs between the fifth and sixth innings to eke out a 5-3 win. In the first game of the doubleheader against the Scarlet Knights, Rutgers finished on top of a 10-7 shootout.

FIU holds a 17-3 record after dominating its three home tournaments and posting a solid showing at the Florida Classic in Gainesville. The Panthers swept their lone common opponent with FGCU, tallying 7-5 and 8-5 wins over Louisville. FIU also swept Georgia Tech and South Dakota through the first month of play. Its losses came in split 1-1 weekends against Marshall and Incarnate Word, along with a 14-6 loss at Florida.

Kally Meredith is hitting .531 with three triples to lead the Panthers at the plate. She also has a team-best .583 OBP, is slugging .672 and has scored 26 runs. Kennedy Byrd has three homers, seven doubles and 18 RBI; Leah Clark is 15-for-16 on stolen base attempts. In the circle, Brooke McNichols owns a 2.26 ERA over 21.2 innings pitched. Byrd has a 2.65 ERA through a team-high 42.1 innings pitched, and J'dah Girigorie leads FIU with 32 strikeouts.

FGCU is 7-20 in the all-time series against the Panthers; the Eagles' last win overall came in 2016 and their last win in Miami was in 2015.

Wednesday's game against FAU will wrap up the Eagles' 2026 home-and-home with the Owls. In the first meeting in Fort Myers, FAU had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh before the Eagles scored three runs to earn the walk-off win. Olivia Black drove in the winning runs with a 1-out single back up the middle, scoring Parris Wiggs and Emily Chiarella to give FGCU the victory.

Since the first meeting between the two squads, FAU has gone 10-1. The Owls swept their way through the Jean Joyce Classic and Beach Chicken Brawl; notching wins over Kansas, Villanova and Coastal Carolina, among others. The lone loss was a 9-5 result at UCF. 

The Owls are led at the plate by Lily Holtje, who is hitting .444 with 21 RBI, nine doubles and three home runs. Holtje has also walked 16 times for a .556 OBP, and is slugging .778. Kylie Hammonds has four homers, a triple, and 21 runs scored for FAU. In the circle, Makenna Lee has a 2.30 ERA across 27.1 innings pitched. Autumn Courtney, who pitched the first game against FGCU, has 46 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA over a team-high 46.2 innings this season.

FGCU will aim for its first win in Boca Raton since 2018, and looks to sweep the regular season series against the Owls for the second time in program history and first time since 2008.

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.