FGCU picked 4th in A-Sun softball poll
With the 2015 diamond season on the horizon, the FGCU softball team was ranked fourth in the Atlantic Sun, as determined by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll released Wednesday. In conjunction with the coaches’ poll, senior outfielder Kelsey Carpenter earned Preseason All-Conference honors.
As announced by the league Wednesday, the Spartans of USC Upstate were again selected to finish atop the eight-team standings garnering all eight first-place votes. Lipscomb and Stetson are second and third in the poll, respectively, with the Eagles landing just behind.
“The Atlantic Sun is one of the toughest conferences in the country in softball,” said Eagles coach David Deiros. “We are consistently in the top-10 in conference RPI. With that being said, being voted into the top half of the conference is an honor as well as a challenge that we accept. It says a lot about the recruiting class of 2014 that we brought in, considering many of them will find themselves in consistent starting roles this season.”
A season ago, Carpenter led the team and the league with a batting average of .432 in 60 games. The left fielder amassed 10 doubles with a triple and 10 home runs and a slugging percentage of .670.
Carpenter had a team-best 76 hits in 176 at-bats and crossed the plate 47 times. Her doubles mark and tally of 51 RBI also led the squad. In the field, Carpenter maintained a fielding average of .976 with 78 putouts on the season.
The Eagles open the season on Feb. 6 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. After 10 games on the road, the Eagles start the home portion of the schedule by hosting the FGCU/Four Points by Sheraton Invitational, which begins Friday, Feb. 20, with Purdue, Bethune-Cookman, Stony Brook and Oakland.
Riding the 10th-best win streak in the nation with 11 in a row and a perfect 3-0 mark in Atlantic Sun Conference play, the FGCU women’s basketball team returned to action Thursday in Alico Arena against USC Upstate.
The men’s team, meanwhile, traveled to Spartanburg, S.C., Thursday to take on a USC Upstate team (13-6) predicted to finish in the top four of the conference. It was the start of a two-game, four-day road trip for the Eagles (12-7, 2-1 conference).
The Eagles enter the road trip ranked No. 22 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, while the Spartans are No. 18. FGCU was picked to win the A-Sun in preseason.