BOX SCORE (PDF)
WP | Spencer Stockton (3-1): 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
LP | Adam Eggnatz (0-1): 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (17-17-1, 4-3 A-Sun) took an early lead on Friday night but it was Jacksonville (16-17, 3-1 A-Sun) who would deal the final blow in this one as it would come away with a 4-2 victory following a pair of late inning rallies. FGCU starter Mike Murray was as good as he's been all year and Nick Rivera showed off the power stroke once again but it wasn't enough to hold off the Dolphins. The two programs will return to Swanson Stadium tomorrow for a 1 p.m. start.

Mike Murray (West Palm Beach, Fla./Forrest Hill HS) cruised through 7.0 innings while giving up eight hits and two runs but he would strike out 11 Dolphins which matches his season-high set back on Feb. 20 opposite Fordham and is his third, double-digit strikeout performance of 2015. The ace lowers his ERA for the season to 3.80 and did not walk a batter for the fourth time this year. Devin Smeltzer (Voorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) struck out the only batter he faced in a brief relief appearance while Adam Eggnatz (Tampa, Fla./Middle Georiga College) took the first loss of his career after surrendering two runs on four hits over the final 1.2 innings.

At the plate, Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) continued his impressive stretch by belting his seventh homer of the season in a 1-3 effort. Hitting behind him, Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) went 3-4 and matched his career-best 14-game hitting streak in the process. He would score a run and raise his season average to .361. He now has 50 hits for the season which ranks second in the A-Sun. Only two other Eagles, Eggnatz and Blake Berger (Jacksonville, Fla./Santa Fe College) would register hits.

"We didn't capitalize on some opportunities today," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We had the bases loaded early on and didn't move them around and then just couldn't find a way to put a run on the board against their reliever who pitched very well. I thought Murray was great, bouncing back after a tough outing last week. We just need to put runs up on the board for him and we didn't do that tonight."

Murray cruised through the first frame, giving up one hit but picking up a ground out and a pair of fly-outs. The first two FGCU batters in the opening frame would go down, bringing up Rivera who squared up a fastball and sent it soaring on a line over the center field wall for his seventh long ball of the season, putting the Eagles ahead 1-0. Noll would follow with a single to extend his hitting streak but would be picked off at first by the catcher to end the inning.

Samuel Armstrong led off the top of the third with a single over Noll's head and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. The JU leadoff hitter, Parker Perez, then came to the plate and singled to right. Colton Bottomley's (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) throw home would not beat the runner home but Berger threw down to second to get Perez trying to advance on the play. Murray would surrender a two-out double down the line in right and a single to left, allowing JU to take a 2-1 lead. The Dolphins would pick up another single but nothing more as Murray recorded his first strikeout to escape the frame.

FGCU came to the plate in the bottom of the third led by Eggnatz who bounced a ball into the hole at short. The shortstop was able to range over and make the throw but not in time to catch the speedy Eggnatz who had himself an infield single. Berger sacrificed Eggnatz into scoring position but the top two Eagle hitters in the order were unable to advance him further, keeping the deficit at 2-1.

Murray gave up a single back through the middle to start the fourth and a sacrifice bunt would move the runner into scoring position as the Dolphins looked to add padding to their lead. The West Palm Beach native would bear down and fire back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.

Noll would smoke a single back through the middle and into center with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Brady Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) followed by taking a pitch in his back to put two runners on and Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) worked a 3-2 walk to load the bases for Bottomley. He would fly out to shallow center however and Eggnatz flew out to deep center to end the threat, stranding all three runners.

The Dolphins would threaten again in the top of the sixth. Murray would pick up two quick outs with a fly out and strikeout before hitting Cameron Gibson to put a runner on first. The next hitter would strike out swinging but reach first when the breaking ball skipped away from Berger. The runner at first would hustle all the way to third to put runners on the corners with two away. Murray continued to pound the zone however and struck out his third batter of the frame to escape the inning.

Noll led off the bottom of the sixth with a double down the line in left and Anderson laid down a bunt to sacrifice him over to third for Spivey who hit a long fly ball to the track in right, plenty deep enough to score Noll from third to tie the game, 2-2.

Smeltzer took over Murray on the hill in the top of the eighth and struck out the only batter he would face for the first out of the frame. Eggnatz came in from left to take over and retired the first batter via ground out before giving up a pinch-hit single to Nathan Koslowski. He would steal second and a subsequent single to right would bring him around to score the go-ahead run, the first run that Eggnatz has allowed to this point in the season.

The Eagles would strand one runner in the eighth and Eggnatz would surrender the fourth JU run in the top of the ninth to put FGCU in a 4-2 hole heading into its last plate appearance. The Green and Blue bats would go down quietly however to secure the victory for the Dolphins.

ATLANTIC SUN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Eagles will once again host the Atlantic Sun Championship Tournament at Swanson Stadium this season. The event is set to take place May 20-23 and the top six teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the championship and compete in a double-elimination style tournament to determine the A-Sun's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles are four-time A-Sun Regular Season Champions with the most recent title coming in 2014.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 12+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 451-255-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four A-Sun Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 35 All-Conference selections, 22 draft picks, 14 current minor leaguers, four A-Sun Pitchers of the Year, three All-Americans, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one MLB All-Star.

#WINGSUP
Fans are encouraged to download the brand-new Wings Up mobile app in conjunction with SuperFanU. The fully-customized loyalty-rewards platform allows fans to check in at each of FGCU's sporting events to earn points throughout the school year toward exclusive prizes that can't be offered anywhere else.

FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the baseball team on Twitter @FGCU_Baseball, Instagram @FGCU_Baseball or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUBaseball. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.