FORT MYERS, Fla. – Olivia Black set the FGCU Division I career stolen base record and Florida Gulf Coast (17-29, 11-8 ASUN) walked off Queens, 2-1, (12-30, 4-15) to clinch a spot in the 2026 ASUN Softball Championship.

Black reached base on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning after Nikki Gibson led off with a bunt single and was put out at second base on Black's ground ball. With two outs and the count 1-1 to Sietske Drijvers, Black took off for second and beat the throw, which trickled into center field. She remained perched on second and pointed to the sky as the announcement of her record went out over the PA and the dugout erupted in cheers. 

"Anything that Oli Black sets her mind to, she's going to succeed," head coach Lindsay Fico said. "She's going to be very successful in life because of that. I think her setting the record is par for the course. She sets goals and expectations that are really, really high, and she's got the mindset to achieve them. I'm really, really proud of her and all of her hard work, and I'm happy to see it pay off for her because she absolutely deserves the recognition."

"This (milestone's) got to be up there," Black said. "I just can't help but give all the glory to God. I mean, He's just been so wonderful and gracious to me throughout my career, and I feel blessed to even be able to be here, receiving this accolade."

Drijvers worked a nine-pitch walk after three full count foul balls to put two runners on for K'Mari Williams. Williams quickly watched the count go to 3-0, before taking a strike and fouling off four consecutive pitches. Her penultimate foul ball nearly ended the game, as it jumped over the third base bag and landed just in foul territory. 

Williams made the close call irrelevant two pitches later. She laced a ball to right center field, past the outstretched glove of the Royals' right fielder, and Black scored easily from second base to win the game.

Earlier in the day, North Florida swept a doubleheader against West Georgia to win the series, opening the door for FGCU to clinch a spot in the 2026 ASUN Softball Championship with a win. The Eagles' walk-off victory sealed spots for both FGCU and UNF in the ASUN Championship.

The game got to the 1-1 tie heading to the seventh after FGCU and Queens exchanged runs in the fourth inning. The Royals stacked a single and RBI triple in the top half of the frame before FGCU responded with a walk, single, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly from Nikki Gibson to score J'Lyn Guyden.

Grace Taylor (7-9) spun a gem for the Eagles en route to the win, striking out four and allowing just four hits and one run. Taylor's complete game was her eighth of 2026.

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.

Postgame Notes
– FGCU is 4-0 against Queens in Fort Myers and is 8-2 against the Royals all-time
– Black set the FGCU Division I career stolen base record with 98, passing Kelsey Huff, who stole 97 bases from 2015-18
– Williams hit FGCU's first walkoff since the Eagles walked off Stetson on March 22
– The walk off single was FGCU's sixth walk off of 2026 (previous five were 8-0 (6 innings) vs. Long Island on Feb. 6, 4-3 vs. Hofstra on Feb. 13 (10 innings), 10-2 vs. Hofstra on Feb. 14 (5 innings), 3-2 vs. FAU on Feb. 17 (7 innings) and 4-3 vs. Stetson on March 22 (7 innings)

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