Florida Gulf Coast University announced on Apr. 17 that its softball team will return home to face Jacksonville University in a key ASUN Conference series starting Saturday, April 18.
The matchup is significant for both teams as they compete for position within the conference standings. Florida Gulf Coast holds a record of 15-26 overall and 9-6 in ASUN play, while Jacksonville stands at 27-15 overall and 11-4 in the conference.
In their most recent game, Florida Gulf Coast’s offense produced six runs against Florida, marking the highest total ever scored by the Eagles against that opponent. Nikki Gibson led FGCU with two hits, including a home run and three runs batted in. The team also saw contributions from Ally Thompson and Kiki Daniels during a fourth-inning rally.
Parris Wiggs leads FGCU with a .352 batting average this season and has performed even better during conference games. Grace Taylor has pitched over ninety-six innings for the Eagles, while Julia Bacoulis leads the conference with twenty-nine pitching appearances. Olivia Black is approaching the program’s career Division I steals record.
Jacksonville enters the series on a six-game winning streak after recently sweeping Queens and defeating Florida A&M. Sarah Beth Brake leads JU offensively in several categories including batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, walks, slugging percentage and OPS. Jacy Harrelson has thrown more than one hundred thirty-three innings for Jacksonville this season with ninety-seven strikeouts.
Historically, FGCU holds an advantage over Jacksonville with forty-two wins to fifteen losses in their all-time meetings and are twenty-three-and-four when playing at home against JU. This weekend marks their first home series against Jacksonville since April of 2021.
