FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast (15-26, 9-6 ASUN) returns home after a two-week road trip to face Jacksonville (27-15, 11-4) in a pivotal conference series beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

The last time out, the top three hitters in Florida's lineup powered the Gators to a 9-6 win. FGCU's six runs were the most in program history against Florida, and surpassed the four combined runs the Eagles had scored in the seven previous matchups with UF.

The Eagles' arms held the rest of Florida's lineup to just 3-for-17 at the plate, providing time for its offense to do damage. Nikki Gibson went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored to lead the way for FGCU. Gibson crushed a towering 248-foot two-run blast off the roof of the Florida bullpen in left field for her first since March 4, 2024 against Central Michigan, and just her second career long ball. 

FGCU's offense had more in the tank, and scored three in the top of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Ally Thompson laced a double just fair down the right field line that scored Mackenzie Leiti for the first Eagles' run of the inning. Gibson tacked on her third RBI of the day with a single and Kiki Daniels made it back-to-back RBI singles with a pinch-hit line drive through the left side. 

Mackenzie Leiti capped off FGCU's offensive day against the Gators with a seventh inning sacrifice fly to draw back within three runs, but the Eagles were unable to complete the comeback.

FGCU is led by Parris Wiggs, who is hitting .352 on the season and .420 in ASUN play. 11 of Wiggs' 15 RBIs and four of her seven extra base hits have come in conference action. Grace Taylor has thrown 96.1 innings with a 4.58 ERA, and Julia Bacoulis has 61 strikeouts.

Sietske Drijvers leads the ASUN and ranks eighth nationally with 13 runners caught stealing. Julia Bacoulis holds the top spot in the conference with 29 appearances in the circle and a pair of saves. Olivia Black is one steal away from tying and two steals away from breaking the FGCU career DI steals record.

The Eagles and Dolphins met just two weeks earlier in Jacksonville. JU took a 2-1 series win by winning both of the games of Saturday's doubleheader after FGCU won 8-3 in the Friday night opener. Since, Jacksonville swept Queens on the road and earned a 6-5 midweek win over Florida A&M to improve to 27-15, and they bring a six game win streak to Fort Myers. 

Sarah Beth Brake leads Jacksonville in most offensive stat categories, including average (.438), hits (49), doubles (11), home runs (11), RBIs (42), walks (19), SLG (.848) and OPS (1.344). Kate Linkletter has a .544 OBP thanks to 14 walks and 20 HBP, and Jaida Thomas has discord 41 runs for the Dolphins. Jacy Harrelson holds a 2.62 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 133.2 innings pitched. Her 133.2 innings lead the ASUN and rank 25th nationally. She has the most starts in the conference with 23 and the second most strikeouts with 97.

The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Dolphins and are 23-4 at home. The weekend series will be the first home series against JU in April since 2021. 

2026 softball single game tickets are on sale 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.