TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (13-12) won the first of two against Florida A&M (15-8) by a 6-5 margin and claimed its fourth straight weekend series before dropping a back-and-forth finale, 14-9, Friday at Moore-Kittles Field.
After dropping back-to-back weekend series to No. 1 Florida and defending Big Ten Champ Illinois to start the season, FGCU has now won four straight weekend matchups against Bethune-Cookman, Quinnipiac, ETSU and now FAMU, with three of the four coming on the road.
Additionally, after splitting Friday's doubleheader, FGCU is now 8-1 in the all-time series with the Rattlers and has now gone 9-4 in its last 13 games.
"We won the series, but we were looking for the sweep" said FGCU head coach
Dave Tollett. "We have to do a better job of pitching, that's the bottom line. We put some runs on the board, but you're not going to win too many games giving up that many hits."
GAME ONEFGCU led from start to finish as
Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) hit a three-run shot in the top of the first inning, his seventh of the season, to give the Eagles an early lead.
In the next frame, Noll then came back around to hit with the bases loaded and ripped a two-RBI single into left field to extend the lead to 5-0.
After being held hitless in the first two innings, the Rattlers began to chip away at the FGCU lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning on a two-RBI single to center field from Dylan Dillard.
Noll again stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth and was hit by pitch to bring in another run, setting a new career high with 6 RBI in his first three trips to the plate. However, FAMU responded in the home half as Ryan Hutson hit a RBI-single up the middle make it a 6-3 game.
Both teams went scoreless in the next two innings before the Rattlers were able to draw within one on a pair of RBI singles from Jacky Miles, Jr. and Cameron Johnson. However, that's as close at FAMU would get as the Eagles claimed the one-run win.
FGCU starter
Garrett Anderson (1-0, 3.76) earned the win after throwing a career-high 6.0 innings while
Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) recorded his second save of the season.
Noll finished the game 4-for-4 from the plate and added a run to go along with his career-high RBI mark while
Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) added a pair of hits.
GAME TWOIn a game that saw a pair of lead changes and multiple runs scored in five innings, including a combined 10 runs in the fifth, FAMU outlasted the Eagles to claim the series finale.
Much like they did in Thursday's series opener, the Rattlers struck first on a three-run home run off the bat of Shane Gordon in the bottom of the second inning before adding to its lead with a pair of runs in the next frame on a sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt.
However, registering only one hit in the first three innings, the FGCU bats came alive in the top of the fourth as the Eagles scored five runs to tie the game.
Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) and
Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) delivered the big hits with a two-run single and two-run double, respectively, before
Tyler Atwell (Venice, Fla./Tallahassee CC) tied the game on a sacrifice fly to right field. For Smith, it was his second of two doubles in the game.
After FGCU reliever
Garrison Vandeventer (Ocala, Fla./North Marian HS) worked a perfect fourth inning, the Green and Blue claimed the lead with four runs in the fifth.
Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) brought in the go-ahead run on a RBI-single to right field, before
Matt Roberts (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS) extended the lead with a two-run triple to center field and Bottomley capped off the 9-0 spurt with a sacrifice fly to left.
Vandeventer then looks to continue cruising through the fifth before FAMU plated six runs with two outs to reclaim the lead, 11-9. A.J. Elkins hit a two-run home run to left, while Marlon Gibbs brought in two more and tied the game on a double to right center and Ben Ellzey got the lead back with a two-run single to left.
Seemingly exhausted from a long day and back-and-forth game, FGCU then allowed FAMU to add an insurance run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to get to the 14-9 final.
Vandeventer (0-1, 7.59) suffered the loss for FGCU while Ryan Anderson earned the win for the Rattlers. Offensively,
Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) led the way with his second three-hit game of the weekend while Bottomley and Smith added two-hit games.
When all was said and done Friday evening, Reardon extending his season and career-high hit streak to 17 games while Noll pushed his career-high on-base streak to 35 games. Additionally, Selesky isn't far behind with an 18-game on-base streak.
UP NEXTThe Eagles return to Swanson Stadium and play host to No. 19 FAU for a midweek matchup Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. FGCU holds a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series against the Owls, including a 4-4 mark at home, and have won two of the last three games.
DAVE TOLLETTIn 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 476-276-3 record (.632) 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.
