The FGCU softball team (11-11) opened day one of the USF Tournament in Clearwater with a split as they fell 7-6 to LIU-Brooklyn (14-9) before shutting out Seton Hall (8-12) 8-0 via mercy rule. With the split, the Eagles are now 12-4 against the Blackbirds and earned their first win against the Pirates.
"I was really pleased on how our team responded after the walk-off loss against LIU Brooklyn," head coach David Deiros said. "Reedy [Davenport] had an incredible day at the plate with two grand slams and so did Kate [Kelly] as well, reaching on in her first six at-bats today. Riley [Randolph] was once again dominant in her outing against Seton Hall, pitching a gem to wrap it all up for us. We're looking forward to day two of the tournament."
Game One vs LIU-Brooklyn:
The Eagles wasted no time jumping on the board. Three-straight singles from senior Kate Kelly, sophomore Haley Morrell and senior Racquel Fournet loaded the bags. This set up freshman Reedy Davenport to take the first pitch she saw of the park to left field for the 4-0 lead. It was the freshman's second home run of the season.
Shortly after the top half, LIU Brooklyn tacked on a pair of runs to cut the deficit down to two. Scoreless over the next two frames, the Blackbirds took their first lead of the contest with three-run fourth using three hits.
The Green and Blue pushed a runner across in the top of the fifth with Davenport reaching on an error to start the frame. A sac bunt from sophomore Ahnie Jumper placed her in scoring position as a single from junior Mikenzie Vaughn brought her home with a one-out knock to left.
LIU Brooklyn answered once again with a run in its half but FGCU tacked on one more in the top of the sixth for the draw. Senior Kelly got things going with a leadoff single as she advanced to second on a wild pitch. A grounder from Morrell moved her over to third which allowed Fournet to bring her in with a single up the middle for the tie.
Tied 6-6 going to the bottom of the seventh, LIU Brooklyn produced a walk as a double to center gave LIU Brooklyn the walk-off victory.
Freshman Emily Hess (0-1) got hit with the loss after walking the scoring run in the seventh. Davenport finished 1-for-4 with the four RBI while Kelly finished 4-for-4 with two runs scored.
Game Two vs Seton Hall:
The Eagles started the first inning scoring one run on three hits. After a fielder's choice and a walk from Morrell and Fournet, a single from Davenport loaded the bases. One batter later, senior Brooke Clemens put one in play to left field for the RBI single.
In the second inning, FGCU's bats' exploded with six runs on five hits. Facing one out, three consecutive singles from Kelly, Morrell, and Fournet filled the bags. Davenport then dug in and launched her second grand slam of the day out to left field – her third of the home run of the season. Following a pitching change, Clemens smacked a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for the second home run of the inning, her first of the season.
Davenport scored the final run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth. Beginning with a leadoff single, the freshman moved over to second then third with a stolen base and a wild pitch. Two batters later, Vaughn collected the RBI, grounding out to second.
Meanwhile, senior Riley Randolph, who became FGCU's all-time leader in starts (92) in her last outing against No. 15 Indiana, allowed just one hit, the first batter she faced, in her 11th complete game of the season, moving to 9-5 overall. Randolph retired Seton Hall's side in the third, fourth and fifth frames, while tossing 76 pitches with no walks.
Davenport capped off her night going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, finishing with eight RBI in total Friday evening.
Up Next:
FGCU is back in action Saturday afternoon taking on Quinnipiac (4-11) at 2:15 p.m. (field No. 4), followed by No. 21 Minnesota (17-7) at 6:30 p.m. (field No. 9). Quinnipiac played in two games with losses to Colgate and FAMU while Minnesota earned wins over Butler and host USF.
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