Softball Splits Wednesday Doubleheader at Florida Gulf Coast

Wednesday, April 3

Fort Myers, Fla.

5 PM

Florida Atlantic

15-19

Florida Gulf Coast

18-15

Florida Atlantic

FGCU

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Softball Splits Wednesday Doubleheader at Florida Gulf Coast

4/3/2019 11:08:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University softball team (16-19, 3-6 C-USA) split its doubleheader with Florida Gulf Coast (18-16, 3-3 ASUN) on Wednesday. In game one, the Eagles squeezed by with a 3-2 victory, but came alive in the latter contest for a 7-2 win to snap a four-game losing skid.

Quotable:

"In the second game, we finally broke out of the slump we were in," said head coach Joan Joyce. "We started to hit the ball pretty well and Kelsey [Morrison] pitched a really good game. Despite giving up the two-run dinger in the first inning, she did a really nice job the rest of the way and Kara [Lokeinsky] came in to finish it up in the last two innings. Everyone did a very good job tonight and hopefully this will carry on into the weekend to give us some wins."

Game 1
Key Plays:
After three scoreless innings of play, the Eagles struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning off an RBI single by Kate Kelly and a throwing error to advance two runners home. The Owls answered back in the top of the fifth inning off a sacrifice fly by Jolie Duffner to score Madisyn Palmer and an RBI single by Fayth Davis to march Samantha Lageyre home. FGCU had a response in the bottom of the frame off an RBI single by Mikenzie Vaughn to go up 3-2. The Owls had a chance to rally in the top of the seventh with Palmer at third base, but an impressive play by FGCU's shortstop was in time to seal the victory for the Eagles

Notables:

Palmer, Duffner and Davis delivered two hits in the game
Duffner extended her career-long hitting streak to nine games
Duffner had her first career stolen base and Palmer tacked on another steal to make it 27 on the year
Despite the loss, Mia Olson gave up just two earned runs, one walk and added a strikeout

Game 2
Key Plays:
FGCU's Haley Morrell struck first for the Eagles with a two-run home run to left center field to also score Kelly who had reached on a base hit. The Owls knocked the lead in half in the top of the third inning with Olson's sacrifice fly to score Palmer, who had reached on a base hit. In the top of the fourth inning, the Owls tied things up thanks to an RBI single by Angela Agurkis. FAU ran away with the win courtesy of a five-run inning for the Owls in the fifth inning, which started with Myah Murray delivering an RBI single up the middle to score Davis, who reached on a base hit. The momentum continued with a two-RBI single by Angela Agurkis, an RBI single by Lauren Whitt and an RBI single by Samantha Lageyre. Runs in the frame were scored by Davis, Olson, Duffner, Murray and Agurkis. A loaded fifth inning was all the Owls needed to run away with a 7-2 victory.

Notables:

Palmer, who celebrated a birthday today, delivered two hits in both games and is now batting .282 on the season
Davis bulked up her batting average to .328 after snagging two hits in both games to go a perfect 4-4 from the plate. She also captured her first career stolen base and scored two runs
Agurkis and Murray came up with career highs with two hits each on their young collegiate careers
The Owls went through 11 batters in the top of the fifth inning
FAU stole three bases in the game courtesy of Palmer, Davis and Ashleigh Jennings
Morrison picked up her seventh win in the circle this season, pitching five innings to give up just a two-run home run in the first. She also added four strikeouts with three of those coming in the second frame
Kara Lokeinsky pitched two scoreless innings in relief, giving up just one hit and clinching two strikeouts

Up Next:

The Owls will return home to host conference rival FIU in a three-game series. Play against the Panthers will kick off on Saturday for a 4 p.m. doubleheader and will cap off with a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday. For ticket information, visit the Ticketmaster page or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS. For live updates during all of the games and for other FAU softball news, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball), Instagram (@Owls_softball) and Facebook.