GAINESVILLE, Fla – In front of an opening-night record crowd in the hostile SEC environment of Alfred A. McKethan Stadium, the FGCU baseball team (0-1) dropped a hard-fought season opener to the No. 1 Gators (1-0) as they suffered a 4-2 loss on Friday evening in Gainesville, Fla.

The Eagles recorded seven hits to Florida's six, but failed to put together a big inning when the opportunity arose. Florida right-hander Logan Shore earned the win for the Gators while Dane Dunning recorded the save. FGCU starter Brady Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) suffered the loss.

"There was a lack of execution at some points in the game that proved to be the difference," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "The fifth inning hurt us. Without that, it's probably a one-run game throughout and we would've had a better chance to make something happen in the ninth."

Florida got on the board in the bottom of the second inning as catcher Mike Rivera drove in first baseman Peter Alonso on a sacrifice fly to left field. However, Anderson did a formidable job minimizing the damage as he got into and out of a bases-loaded jam by forcing shortstop Dalton Guthrie to ground out to third baseman Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) to end the inning.

FGCU knotted the score, 1-1, in the fourth inning when Selesky reached on a four-pitch walk to start the frame and second baseman Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) followed with a single up the middle. Then, with two on and one out, right fielder Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) rolled one over to third, but Alonso couldn't handle the throw from second baseman Deacon Liput on a doulbe play attempt and Selesky rounded third to score on a heads-up base running play as the ball got away.

Florida reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Rivera hit a one-out homerun over the bleachers in left and extended its lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth. Anderson issued a leadoff walk to third baseman Jonathan India, who advanced to second on a wild pitch, while Guthrie proceeded to reach on an error by shortstop Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS), putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Center fielder Buddy Reed was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, allowing Florida to score a pair of runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies from designated hitter JJ Schwarz and Alonso.

Anderson remained in the game for one more batter but was relieved by freshman right-hander Ryan Lang (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) after allowing a single to right fielder Jeremy Vasquez. Lang then retired Rivera on a pop up in foul ground to first baseman Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC) to end the inning.

Anderson left the game after allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits to go along with three walks and two strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. His counterpart, Shore, allowed one run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.

Each team's relievers kept the opposing offense in check as they tossed a combined 6.1 scoreless innings. In his collegiate debut, Lang pitched 3.1 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and striking out two. The Merritt Island native was perfect through 2.1 innings of work before allowing a leadoff single to start the bottom the eighth. Florida's Kirby Snead registered three scoreless innings of his own to go along with a career-high four strikeouts and FGCU entered the ninth inning needing three runs to extend the game against Dunning.

Noll led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He later scored on Bottomley's sacrifice fly to right field to cut the lead to 4-2, but that's as close as it would get as Fehribach went down swinging to end the game.

Noll led the Green and Blue offense after going 3-for-4 from the plate while Florida was led by Rivera's two-RBI performance.

Game two of the three-game set will take place tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium. FGCU right-hander Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) will take the mound and be opposed by Florida southpaw A.J. Puk.

NEXT UP
Following its showdown with No. 1 Florida, FGCU travels to Tampa for a mid-week matchup with USF on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. The Bulls not only represent the Eagles' second-consecutive game against an in-state rival, but also their second-straight opponent to make the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
 
DAVE TOLLETT
In 13 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 463-264-3 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 39 All-Conference selections, 25 draft picks, 16 current minor leaguers, four A-Sun Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one MLB All-Star.

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 visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.