In a month filled with controversy from NCAA penalties, the FGCU softball program split its 2025 ASUN Conference Softball Tournament games on May 6-8, 2-2. The Deiros-led team ended their season by falling to Austin Peay, 5-4, in Oxford, Alabama.

Two losses in the final series of regular-season play against North Florida continued the Eagles’ negative momentum of six wins in the final 12 games. With the recent struggles, FGCU (27-28, 14-10 ASUN) entered the ASUN Softball Championship as the third seed in the ASUN Graphite Division for the tournament’s sixth seed.

The Eagles opened tournament play with consecutive 5-3 wins over the No. 7 Lipscomb Bisons and No. 3 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears, respectively. However, FGCU faced its first hurdle against the ASUN Gold Division Champions, No. 2 Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

With a run batted in at the bottom of the fourth inning with bases loaded, FGCU played the rest of the game on a one-run deficit. The Eagles tied it up 1-1 with an RBI by Maddox Thomas to right field in the sixth, but a score in the bottom of the frame by the Colonels was all they needed. 

Despite the loss, FGCU had one more chance to capture championship glory, with the ASUN Softball Tournament’s double-elimination bracket. The Eagles faced a win-or-go-home matchup against the No.5 Austin Peay Governors.

 Unlike the previous two games, FGCU’s Tiffany Meek scored on a two-RBI double via a line drive to right center field. The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth inning, for a 4-0 lead. However, a five-run sixth inning called the game for the Governors, 5-4. 

While the season ended in defeat, the Eagles earned numerous accolades. Olivia Black produced 38 stolen bases, the most of any player in FGCU’s DI era. As a team, the Eagles recorded 159 stolen bases this season, which is also a school record. 

Additionally, four Eagles earned All-ASUN honors. Avery Viancos was named to the All-ASUN first team, while Black, Emily Chiarella, and Allison Sparkman earned All-ASUN second team honors.

This marked the end of an era for the FGCU softball program, as founding head coach David Deiros coached in his final game. Over the best two decades, Deiros achieved 810 wins, two ASUN Softball Championships, and two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2024. He was also instrumental in the program’s transition from Division II to Division I in 2008.