Eagles journey to USF for nonconference finale

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast (16-28, 10-8) will play its ultimate nonconference sport of 2026 at USF (33-15, 15-6 American) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22.

The final day trip, the Eagles misplaced the collection in opposition to Jacksonville after discovering themselves on the incorrect aspect of a Sunday pitcher’s duel. Julia Bacoulis salvaged the collection for FGCU, throwing a gem on Saturday night time with a career-high 9 strikeouts en path to a 2-1 win.

Bacoulis’ 75 strikeouts leads the crew on the season and ranks sixth within the ASUN. She has a 4.62 ERA by means of 94.0 innings and a 3.28 ERA throughout 47.0 innings in ASUN play. Grace Taylor has a team-best 4.40 ERA, which has dropped to 2.98 in ASUN motion. At the plate, Parris Wiggs is hitting .327 with a .400 OBP. Olivia Black is hitting .323 with 14 stolen bases, and is one stolen base away from the FGCU Division I profession report. Sietske Drijvers is hitting .293 and has caught 13 runners stealing, which ranks ninth nationally and leads the ASUN.

USF enters at 33-15. Since the Eagles and Bulls final met, USF dropped a pair of highway collection at Tulsa and ECU, together with a midweek loss at Florida, however gained a house collection in opposition to UTSA and swept FAU in Tampa. 

The Bulls are led by Toryn Fulton, who’s hitting .328 with six homers and 27 RBIs. Alex Wilkes has a team-high .589 SLG because of eight house runs and 14 doubles. Anne Long paces USF within the circle with a 1.55 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 121.2 innings.

As a crew, South Florida’s 2.74 ERA is the perfect mark within the American and ranks 18th nationally; their seven shutouts test in at thirty fifth within the nation. The protection backing up the pitching workers is simply pretty much as good, if not higher, because the Bulls have turned 29 double performs (third within the NCAA) and have a .980 fielding proportion (eighth within the NCAA). Offensively, no crew has laid down extra sacrifice bunts than the Bulls’ 53 in 2026, and their 20 sacrifice flies aren’t far behind at second within the American and twenty fourth nationally.

The Bulls gained the primary matchup 9-1 in Fort Myers on March 18. Sophie Wylie homered for FGCU within the loss. 

2026 softball single sport tickets are on sale at https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/SB. 

For extra data on FGCU Softball, observe @FGCUSoftball on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and go to fgcuathletics.com.