JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After holding the Dolphins scoreless in the first three innings and hanging tough in the next four, the FGCU baseball team (19-21, 5-4 A-Sun) ultimately suffered a 5-0 loss to Jacksonville (25-14, 7-2 A-Sun) Sunday afternoon at John Sessions Stadium.
 
Eagles starter Mario Leon (3-3, 4.02) tossed a career high 7.1 innings but suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Jacksonville starter Spencer Stockton (5-3, 2.93) went the distance and allowed five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
 
"We had a big opportunity ahead of us coming into this weekend and weren't able to get it done," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "It was a tough series, and I hope our guys learn from it. We have another big one against UNF next weekend and will have to play some good baseball to get ourselves back into the thick of things."
 
After Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) held the Dolphins scoreless in the first three innings and retired nine of the first 11 batters faced, Jacksonville took a 2-0 lead in the home half of the fourth. With runners on the corners and one out, the first run crossed the plate on a wild pitch before catcher Mike Cassala hit a RBI triple to left-center field, just out of the reach of a diving attempt from Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS).
 
FGCU threatened in the top of the sixth as Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) drew a two-out walk before Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) hit a single through the right side to put runners on the corners. However, a pop up to the mound ended the FGCU scoring opportunity.
 
Jacksonville then extend its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the frame as JJ Gould was hit by a pitch to lead things off and later scored on a RBI single through the right side of the infield by Nate Ricci. The run went unearned for Leon as the runners advanced on a passed ball earlier in the inning, and the Naples native did a good job to minimize the damage as a 5-4-3 double play ended the home half.
 
Two innings later, the Dolphins capped things off when Sam Armstrong hit his second home run in as many days, this one a two-run shot to right field, to also bring in Austin Hays after reaching on a leadoff single.
 
Offensively, Morey and Bottomley each turned in multi-hit games with the other coming from Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC). For Morey, he extended his hit streak to a career-high 10 games and has now recorded two or more hits in five of the last seven contests. The Eagles swung the bats fairly well early, but Bottomley's two out single in the sixth was the only base knock they would record after the fourth inning.

NEXT UP
FGCU returns to Swanson Stadium to host conference rival UNF in a three-game series next weekend. Game one is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by game two Saturday at 2 p.m. and the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. The Eagles hold a 19-9 advantage in the all-time series versus the Ospreys.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 482-285-3 record (.628) 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.