FGCU Softball vs Liberty Recap

 The FGCU softball team (17-14, 3-2 ASUN) dropped two contests to Liberty (22-13, 5-3 ASUN) Saturday afternoon. In game one, the Eagles fell, 6-2, and then were edged, 4-2, in game two.

"We competed hard today but came up on the short end," said head coach David Deiros. "We'll regroup and be ready by tomorrow."

Liberty 6 | FGCU 2
FGCU jumped on the board right from the start, scoring its two runs of the first contest on two errors from the Liberty side. Senior Kate Kelly walked and stole second to get things going. The next batter, sophomore Haley Morrell laid down a sac bunt, reaching on a throwing error, advancing to third on the play as Kelly scored. Morrell would then trot home 60 feet on a passed ball.

FGCU kept Liberty scoreless until the top of the fourth where the visitors used four hits to push across two runs. The Flames then answered with another pair of runs in the fifth before scoring two more in the seventh for the 6-2 lead. FGCU loaded the bases in the final frame, but two straight fly outs to center and left, capped off game one. In total, FGCU stranded eight runners on the bags while collecting four hits.

Starting senior pitcher Riley Randolph moves to 13-6 this season as she scattered eight hits while striking out nine batters. Kelly finished game one going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.

Liberty 4 | FGCU 2
In game two, both teams exchanged hits in the first as Liberty took a 1-0 lead. The contest would remain a 1-0 deficit for the Eagles until the bottom of the fifth where they plated their first runner. During this stretch, starting junior pitcher Morgan White had retired eight batters in a row after the third inning. Junior Sammi Poehlman came on as a pinch-runner after sophomore Farley Callaghan was hit by a pitch.

Freshman McKenna Batterton singled up the middle as two batters later, Kelly ripped a base hit to center for the 1-1 tie. The Flames though, answered with three runs over the next two innings to head into the seventh up 4-1. In the seventh, Callaghan led the frame off with a knock to left as Batterton reached on with a hit by pitch. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, setting up pinch-hitter Kyleigh Taylor for the sac fly to center, scoring Callaghan. FGCU's final two outs were popped up to second and first en route to the 4-2 defeat.

White moves to 1-3 in the losing effort as she struck out two batters while surrendering seven hits. The Eagles' offense produced five hits while stranding six runners on the bags.

Up Next:
FGCU will look to salvage the series in game three at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.