Florida Gulf Coast University's softball team won the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Saturday on a Neely Peterson walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to beat the University of Northern Florida Ospreys 7-6.
That win qualified the Eagles for the 2024 NCAA D1 softball tournament. At the pairing election ceremony aired on ESPN2 Sunday night the 37-19 Eagles found they will go up against the Number 4 seeded University of Florida Gators who have a 46-12 record.
The Eagles-Gators match-up will be played in Gainesville at noon on Friday. Other regional action will also be played starting May 16 with the tournament concluding with the start of the 2024 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City on May 30.
The last time the two teams played, in March, the Gators blanked the Eagles 9-0. Since then, FGCU posted a 19-8 record while UF finished with a 20-8 win-loss mark.
Peterson led off the eighth inning in Saturday's game. She was facing Allison Benning, who hadn't allowed a hit in 6.1 innings before Peterson put a jolt in the ball clearing the left field fence and securing the first ASUN softball championship for the Green and Blue since 2012.
"It was amazing rounding third," Peterson said. "I couldn't breathe because I was screaming so much. Seeing everyone's faces was the best thing ever. I love my team."
Peterson worked the count full, forcing Benning to give her a good pitch. "I wanted to get a base hit to lead off the inning. I knew I was waiting for my pitch. The pitch was there and I just took a hack," Peterson said.
The game started with the bats going crazy for both teams. FGCU put up a five-run first inning off a Nikki Gibson RBI single, a Tiffany Meek RBI double, a McKenzie Wittenberg RBI single, and Sophie Wylie scoring on a wild pitch. Avery Viancos would score on another wild pitch an inning later and that would be all the Eagles scoring until Peterson's walk off home run.
Allison Sparkman entered the circle in relief and pitched 4.2 innings, only allowing three base runners and striking out eight.
Five Eagles were named to the All-ASUN Tournament team. Peterson was named Tournament MVP. She was joined by teammates Allison Sparkman, Angelina Bonilla, Tiffany Meek, and Riley Oakes on the All-Tournament team.
Sparkman, an ASUN All-Freshman team member, pitched 12.2 innings across three games, only allowing one earned run and five hits.
Bonilla won the first game of the tournament, going six innings in the opening game, not allowing an earned run.
Meek made spectacular defensive play after spectacular defensive play that saved games for the Eagles.
Oakes recorded multi-hit games in three of the four games, scored four runs, and drive in three.
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