DeLAND, Fla. – The FGCU softball team dropped the series finale Sunday at Stetson in heartbreaking fashion, as the Hatters walked-off the Eagles 4-3 via a three-run home run.
FGCU will have to continue to look elsewhere for its first ASUN conference sweep of the season, as the Hatters forced the Eagles to put its broomsticks back in the closet. The Green & Blue fell to 28-21 and 10-8 in league play with the loss, while Stetson improved to 24-25 and 8-10 in conference.
"It would be easy to fixate on the bottom of the seventh of game three, but truthfully we left DeLand with what we needed," said FGCU softball head coach David Deiros. "Really big compliments to our kids as they fought hard all weekend long, and we got the series win. On to Senior Weekend and North Florida. Another series with a team that is behind us and wants to get to where we are."
Despite Sunday's loss, the Eagles did pick up a pivotal series win Saturday to move into sole possession of fifth place in the ASUN regular-season race. FGCU sits just one-game back of 11-6 Austin Peay -- and the Eagles hold the tiebreaker against the Governors -- for one of the sought-after top four seeds in the upcoming ASUN Championship on May 9-13. Only the top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament, and seeds five through eight will compete in a play-in game just to make it into the double-elimination main bracket.
Sunday marked the second time this season that FGCU had absorbed a walk-off defeat: 3-2 at Central Arkansas on April 7 being the only other.
Stetson's Evette Morgan produced the two-out, game-winning, three-run shot off of junior Angelina Bonilla (Coral Gables, Fla./Coral Gables HS). Bonilla (9-6) absorbed the loss after entering the game in the sixth in relief of junior Claire Maulding (Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield HS/Lake Land College).
FGCU was riding high heading into the home half of the seventh, scoring two runs in the top of the inning to break the 1-1 tie.
Junior pinch hitter Caridad Estes (West Palm Beach, Fla./Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches/Ball State) poked a RBI single just out of reach of the Hatters' shortstop to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Emily Chiarella (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) then beat out an infield single as heads up base running by freshman Tiffany Meek (Freshman Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./William T. Dwyer HS) made it 3-1 Eagles -- scoring all the way from second on the same play.
Sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) drove in FGCU's first run of the day in the fourth with an RBI sacrifice fly. The Hatters finally found paydirt in the sixth courtesy of an RBI single, knotting the game 1-1 heading into the chaotic seventh.
Five of the seven combined runs scored between the Eagles and the Hatters occurred in the final inning of play.
Senior Baylee Haggard (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge HS/Florida SouthWestern State & South Florida State College) earned her 10th start of the season in the circle for FGCU and pitched a scoreless 3⅓ innings, scattering four hits and struck out four.
Chiarella, Meek and redshirt sophomore Meagan Ricks (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven HS) combined for six of the eight FGCU hits Sunday -- each connecting for two hits.
FGCU returns to The Nest for its final home ASUN series of the season next weekend, as the Eagles host North Florida beginning with a 2 p.m. Saturday doubleheader. Senior Day is at 1 p.m. Sunday.
For up-to-the-minute information on the FGCU softball program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_Softball, Instagram at fgcusoftball, Facebook, and stay tuned at FGCUAthletics.com.
COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros is in his 21st season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the ground up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 734-418-3 (.635) record, gone 186-117 (.614) in the ASUN, had 16 seasons with a winning record and nine campaigns of 35+ wins. Deiros has also led the Eagles to three ASUN regular season championships (2008, 2012, and 2016) and one ASUN Tournament title (2012). In 2012, FGCUdefeated No. 5 Florida in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season (2022), FGCU took down both No. 8 Texas and No. 10 Florida once again. Deiros is a former head coach at the 1998 Florida State Runner-Up Lely High School in Naples and is the founding head coach of the 1999 District Champion/2001 Regional Runner-Up Gulf Coast High School in Naples.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCUCampus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 98 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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