FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast softball (11-19, 5-1 ASUN) rallied to knock off Stetson (19-13, 4-2), 4-3, in extra innings and win the series on Sunday afternoon.
Sietske Drijvers delivered the walk-off for the Eagles with a bases-loaded single back up the middle in the bottom of the eighth.
Nikki Gibson scored the winning run after leading off the inning with a perfectly placed bunt single.
Sophie Wylie added another bunt single to move Gibson into scoring position, and
Ally Thompson worked FGCU's eighth walk of the game to load the bases with no outs for Drijvers.
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In the seventh, FGCU was trailing 3-2 with one out when
Kiki Daniels drew a four pitch walk.
Parris Wiggs stepped to the plate and laced a triple down the right field line, scoring Daniels to tie the game.
Tiffany Meek then hit what appeared to be a game-winning sacrifice fly to center, but the umpires ruled that Wiggs left base early, sending the game to extra innings.
"I think they've truly bought into staying external," head coach
Lindsay Fico said. "We talk about it all the time, of feeding off of each other's energy, not going internal … I think they've really bought into that, especially in a third game like that."
"One thing that we always practice is picking up the slack and just having each other's back," Wiggs said. "So when I got the call that didn't go my way, I knew that Julia was going to go in the circle, she was going to shove, and then we were going to come back and get our bats going and walk it off again."Â
FGCU, which is now 3-0 in extra-inning games in 2026, was in position to come back thanks to a stellar outing from
Julia Bacoulis (5-8) in the circle. After allowing three runs between the first and second innings, the freshman buckled down and spun six scoreless frames, holding the high-powered Stetson offense to its lowest run total in ASUN play.
"We knew that they were going to swing it well, but for Julia to do that as a freshman and to carry that load because they didn't see her a whole lot yesterday was really, really big," Fico said. "A lot of grow-up moments in that game."
The Eagles started the comeback in the bottom of the second after Meek, Gibson and Wylie drew three consecutive walks.
Ally Thompson drove a ball to the warning track to cut the deficit to 3-1. FGCU wouldn't score again until the fifth, when they took advantage of a pair of Stetson errors to cut the lead to 3-2.
After the game went to extra innings, Bacoulis headed back out to the circle and allowed a leadoff single, but then recorded three straight outs to inject a burst of energy back into the FGCU dugout.
"It was Julia setting the tone to come back out," Fico said. "She remained very calm. We took a deep breath. Once we reset, we realized that we still had a job to do in front of us."
Bacoulis threw 147 pitches across eight innings in the win, striking out two. Drijvers finished the day 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBI. Gibson went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, and scored the game-winning run.Â
Nicole Edmiaston led Stetson with a two-run homer in the first inning as part of a 2-for-3 day. Gabby David also went 2-for-4 for the Hatters.
Next, FGCU will head to Orlando for a midweek matchup with UCF at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25.
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
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FGCU GIVE DAY 2026 LAUNCHES MARCH 25 AT NOONÂ
FGCU's annual Give Day – a 24-hour fundraising effort designed to support student-athletes, the 15 Division I sport programs and key priorities across FGCU athletics – launches at Noon on March 25.
Help support Your Hometown Team by making your gift during the 24-hour campaign (or anytime leading up to that 24-hour span) by visiting the FGCU Athletics
2026 Give Day webpage here.Â
Postgame Notes
– Drijvers hit the eighth-inning walk-off single to give FGCU the series win
– FGCU is now 3-0 in extra-inning games in 2026
– FGCU recorded eight walks, including two from Daniels
– Drijvers and Gibson each had multi-hit games
– Wiggs had a multi-RBI game
– Wiggs hit her second RBI triple of the weekend
– Gibson and Daniels each doubled
– Bacoulis threw 147 pitches across eight innings for her second complete game win of the year
– FGCU now leads the all-time series with Stetson 34-28; the Eagles are 24-6 against the Hatters at the FGCU Softball Complex
– FGCU holds the lead in the ASUN Graphite Division at 5-1 after winning consecutive conference series
– The 5-1 record in ASUN play through two weeks is also the best mark across divisions in the ASUN
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