Last Time Out:
The Eagles recently wrapped up the FGCU Four Points by Shearton Invitational where they defeated U-Conn (8-3, 2-1), Stony Brook (2-1), Wright State (6-0) and Southern Illinois (1-0). This was the second tournament at home where they swept all of the teams that played.
National Ranking:
With their current record, the Eagles were ranked #25 in the nation of the Fastpitch News' Top-25 rankings. The Eagles are the second team from the A-SUN to receive this accolade as USC Upstate is ranked #22 in the same poll.
What to Expect:
From the Eagles batter's box, senior Ashley Swiderski and juniors Racquel Fournet and Brooke Clemens lead the way.
Despite batting .153 (2-for-13) in the last invitational, Swiderski is batting .303 and leads the team with three home runs.
Fournet is currently batting .390 with one home run and nine RBI. Fournet batted .429 in the last invitational with six hits and six RBI including a four RBI game against U-Conn.
Since transferring from Florida, Clemens is been a strong bat for FGCU. Despite batting .216 overall, Clemens had a fair share in the tournament by bringing in the game-winning run against Southern Illinois.
On the mound, junior Riley Randolph and freshman Marissa Mesiemore set the tone for the Eagles.
Randolph (5-0, 0.88 ERA) has been hot off the mound since returning from a lower back injury. In her last two games, the St. Petersburg native picked up two wins in the FGCU Four Points by Shearton Invitational throwing six innings against U-Conn and striking out seven while also throwing a two-hit shutout against Southern Illinois and striking out four batters.
Mesiemore (6-0, 0.34 ERA) also picked up two wins over in the invitational as she pitched her first collegiate shutout against Wright State and a win in a relief appearance against Stony Brook.
Game-Winning Strides:
Aside from Clemens having her fair share of game-winners, fellow junior Bri Bennett has also had her share. In the Four Points by Shearton Invitational, the Lake Sumter College transfer provided two game-winners in the tournament. Against Stony Brook, she hit a game-winning RBI single for the 2-1 win and along with an RBI triple, Bennett drove in the game-winning run on an fielder's choice against U-Conn. She also provided a sacrifice fly against Wright State.
Closing Role:
Since playing for the FGCU softball team, freshman Taylor Bauman (1-0, 0.58 ERA) has maintained the role of being the closer in the pitching rotation. The Jacksonville native currently has seven saves for the team. Bauman's seven saves are a new single-season record as she passed Rachel Endiger (6).
Unexpected Stop:
Senior Natalie Lopez suffered an ACL tear in her knee in the game against Southern Illinois in the FGCU Four Points by Shearton Invitational. Lopez is currently batting .500 with 13 hits and one RBI. Lopez did not play in the final game of the invitational, yet it is not clear on her timetable and whether she will be able to return or if she will sit out for the rest of the season due to the knee injury.
Scouting Hofstra:
The Pride (8-4) recently competed in the Disney D-9 Invitational hosted. The Pride would win the first two games against Texas Tech (3-2 (8)) and FAMU (1-0 (8)), but would fall to Texas Tech in a rematch (2-4) and host UCF (0-1 (8)) before defeating A-SUN Conference member UNF (4-1 (9)).
Seniors Brittany Allocca and Sarah Edwards lead the team offensively. Allocca leads the team with a .343 batting average and 12 hits while Edwards leads the team with two home runs and five RBI while batting .214.
On the mound, the duo of sophomore Sarah Cornell and freshman Sophie Dandola lead the way.
Cornell is 5-3 with a 1.31 ERA and 73 strikeouts. In Cornell's last game, she threw 6.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits, and walking one batter and striking out five in a no decision against UNF.
Dandola is 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA and 14 strikeouts. In Dandola's last game, she threw 2.2 innings scoreless while giving up one hit and striking out two batters against UNF.
Series History vs Hofstra:
The Eagles are 2-3 against the Pride. The Eagles last game against the Pride was on February 24, 2017 where they won 10-2 in five innings via mercy rule. The Pride's last win against was on February 19, 2016 where they won 8-7.
Scouting Oregon:
This is the first time FGCU will play Oregon. The Ducks (12-3) are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
The Ducks recently competed in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. They would beat then #18 Oklahoma State (4-1) in the first game, but would fall to #6 Texas A&M (1-3) and #11 Tennessee (0-1) before defeating then #7 LSU (4-0) and San Jose State (1-0). In the wins over Oklahoma State and LSU, the Ducks knock the Cowgirls out of the Top 25 and moved the Tigers from No. 7 to No. 10 in the nation.
Seniors DJ Sanders and Gwen Svekis lead the Ducks in the batter's box. Sanders is currently batting .303 and leads the team with seven home runs and 16 RBI while Svekis is batting .350 with five home runs and 18 RBI.
Pitching wise, sophomore Miranda Elish and junior Megan Kleist lead the way.
Elish is currently 5-0 with a 0.22 ERA and has 48 strikeouts. In Elish's last start, she threw a two-hit shutout against LSU with 10 strikeouts before making an appearance in relief throwing two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout against SJ State.
Kleist is 4-2 with a 1.10 ERA and has 47 strikeouts. In Kleist's last start, she threw 5.1 innings and struck out four batters.
The Ducks will have a doubleheader series with USF on Thursday March 1.
Scouting FSU:
The Seminoles (12-4) recently competed in the Easton Bama Bash. They would beat Northern Iowa in the first game (9-0) and fall to #11 Alabama (0-3) before beating Alabama in a rematch (3-1) and Georgia State (8-0 (6)). Originally, the Seminoles were scheduled to face Northern Iowa in a rematch, but it was called off.
In the batter's box, senior Jessie Warren and junior Carsyn Gordon lead the way.
Warren is leading the team with a .449 batting average and eight home runs and 25 RBI. In Warren's last game, she went 2-2 with a home run and two RBI against Georgia State.
Gordon is currently batting .391 with five home runs and 14 RBI. Gordon was 1-3 with one RBI.
Base running, senior Morgan Klaevemann and junior Cali Harrod have seven stolen bases each.
Pitching wise, redshirt junior Meghan King and redshirt senior Kylee Hanson lead the way. King and Hanson are currently 6-2 each. King is throwing a 1.02 ERA with 32 strikeouts while Hanson is throwing a 1.38 ERA with 51 strikeouts.
In King's last game, she threw a complete game giving up one run on five hits against Alabama.
In Hanson's last game, she threw a three-hit shutout in six innings and struck out nine batters and walking two against Georgia State.
Series History vs FSU:
The Eagles are currently 0-5 against FSU. The last time both team met was a doubleheader on March 14, 2017 where the Eagles lost 0-7 and 1-13 at home.
The game against Hofstra will be on March 2 at 10 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. for Oregon. They will then play against FSU at 12:30 P.M. and Oregon at 5:30 P.M. on March 3 before wrapping up the tournament with one more game against Hofstra on March 4 at 9 A.M.
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