FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University softball will start its Atlantic Sun Conference tournament title defense on Tuesday as it takes on the winner of the Lipscomb/Queens game at 3 p.m. central, 4 p.m. eastern in Oxford, Ala. at Choccolocco Park.

The Eagles are the sixth seed in the ASUN tournament after finishing third by way of tiebreaker in the Graphite division.

Allison Sparkman is the ace in the circle for FGCU, with a season ERA at 2.13 and WHIP of 1.34, both leading the team. One should not forget about Victoria Ash who is coming off a weekend where she pitched 11.1 innings against the conference-leading Ospreys without allowing an earned run.

On offense, Olivia Black has been as hot as it gets. She is currently on a 14-game hitting streak where she is batting .448 and has had at least one steal in eight of her last nine games. She has 10 games where she has stolen multiple bases. Black set the individual single season stolen base record in FGCU's DI era earlier this year, currently sitting at 38 this season. Black is third in the country in stolen base percentage, only being thrown out on a first and third play. She ranks ninth in the country in total steals.

Lipscomb enters the tournament as the seventh seed with a 12-12 conference record. Alyssa Hastings is the biggest threat at the dish for Lipscomb, slashing .413/.490/1.185 on the season which all lead the team. In the circle, Laine Barefoot is the ace of the staff. She has a 3.66 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP recording 13 complete games this season.

Queens is the No. 10 seed after finishing with a 9-15 record in the graphite division. Lindsey Roeck is the leader in batting average for Queens at .331. Makala Strickland is the team leader in on base percentage at .409 recording 16 hit by pitches on the year. The top slugger is Lauryn Byrd who has hit 10 home runs to register a .540 slugging percentage. In the circle, Queens has four pitchers who have all pitched at least 79.2 innings but none have an ERA below 5.00.

FGCU will face either Lipscomb or Queens in their first game of the ASUN Tournament. If they win, they will face Central Arkansas in the first game if the double elimination bracket.

The Bears are 16-7 in the ASUN, securing a second place finish in the gold division. Central Arkansas played their usual tough schedule, the toughest in the conference. At the plate, three Bears are all threats to do damage. Kylie Griffin is slashing .396/.432/.511. Addie Graham is slashing .385/.444/.509. Kaitlyn Graham is slashing .315/.419/.450. In the circle, Bailie Runner gets the bulk of the innings for Central Arkansas. She has posted a 5.15 ERA and 1.62 WHIP so far this year.

If FGCU manages to face and defeat Central Arkansas, they will face EKU.

The Colonels enter the tournament as the gold division winners and the two seed. They are led by Maddi Rutan both at the plate and in the circle. Rutan is slashing .421/.564/.820 while posting a 2.85 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Rutan is the team leader in home runs, triples, RBI and walks. In the circle, she has started half of EKU's games and appeared in 60% of them.