DeLAND, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast (19-30, 13-9 ASUN) dropped the series opener 7-3 at Stetson (32-19, 17-5) on Friday afternoon.
The Hatters jumped on top early with three runs in the first inning and four in the second. Stetson came out swinging at the right pitches, with a triple and sacrifice fly putting the first run on the board. Stetson sandwiched a single in between a pair of walks to load the bases, and Logan Forman drove in two with a double. In the second frame, Irianis Garcia drove in another run with a double, and Amber Chumley capped Stetson's scoring with a three-run blast that ricocheted off the top of the left field fence.Â
Julia Bacoulis entered in relief for FGCU and was masterful for the rest of the game. The freshman struck out four batters over 4.2 innings to keep the Eagles in the game. She only gave up one hit, a soft line drive that deflected off her lower leg, and didn't walk a batter for the first time in 2026 when tossing over an inning.
Presley Smith and
Sietske Drijvers hit fifth inning singles to get on base for
Mackenzie Leiti, who brought them both in with a single to cut the deficit to 7-2. A pair of double plays in the second and sixth hampered FGCU's ability to come back.
The Eagles added another run in the seventh when
K'Mari Williams singled to score
Olivia Black, but FGCU could not complete the rally and fell, 7-3.
With the loss, FGCU will finish third in the Graphite Division and will be either the 5 or 6 seed in the ASUN Championship beginning on Tuesday, May 5.
Next, FGCU will play the second game of Friday's doubleheader against Stetson.
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Postgame Notes
– Bacoulis passed
Allison Sparkman for the fourth-most innings pitched by a freshman in program history with 108.2
– Bacoulis struck out four to move to 82 strikeouts on the season
– Bacoulis didn't walk a hitter for the first time in 2026 when pitching over one inning
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