FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite being held quite for much of the afternoon, the FGCU baseball team (20-23, 6-6 A-Sun) found a way to send the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth before ultimately losing the series finale versus UNF (28-15, 7-5 A-Sun), 6-3, Sunday at Swanson Stadium.
The Green and Blue trailed the Ospreys, 6-1, heading into their final at-bat but were able to make things interesting. With the bases loaded and one out, designated hitter
Stefano Belmonte (Chicago, Ill./South Suburban College) hit a ground ball to third base to bring in a pair of runs as UNF's Alex Merritt was unable to handle the sharp ground ball. Then, with runners on first and second, FGCU sent the tying run to the plate on two occasions but came up empty as
Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) went down swinging and
Jay Hayes (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS), who hit his first career home run to center field earlier in the game, flew out to the warning track in right center to end the contest.
With the loss, FGCU falls to 6-6 in league action and is currently ranked fifth in the conference standings as the top five teams are separated by only four games. FGCU starter
Mario Leon (3-4, 4.53) suffered the loss, while UNF southpaw Austin Drury (4-1, 4.35) earned the win and Alex Smith recorded the save.
Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) kept the Eagles in it through the first five innings, but began to leave some balls up in the zone in the sixth, when UNF added a pair of runs on solo shots from Nick Karmeris and Chris Thibideau.
"There wasn't much going for us today," said FGCU head coach
Dave Tollett. "There's not much else to say than that. Too many punch outs, and a lack of execution when we could have used it the most."
The Ospreys jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Keith Skinner hit a RBI groundout to second base before Karmeris hit a single back up the middle to bring in another.
Two innings later, UNF added to its lead as Corbin Olmstead also sent one back up the shoot to score Kyle Brooks, who started the frame with a chop-single down the left-field line.
FGCU cut its deficit to two in their next at-bat thanks to the aforementioned home run from Hayes in the bottom of the third, but the Eagles failed to scratch any more runs across until it was all but too late in the bottom of the ninth.
Out of the bullpen,
Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State College) and
Clint Knoblauch (Wellington, Fla./Wellington HS) combined to throw three scoreless innings while allowing only three hits.
Offensively, Hayes was the bright spot as the Green and Blue managed five hits in the game.
NEXT UP
FGCU hits the road for a three-game set at USC Upstate next weekend. Game one in Spartanburg, S.C., is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be followed by game two Saturday at 2 p.m. and the series finale Sunday at noon. All three games will be aired on ESPN3. The Eagles currently hold a 16-8 advantage in the all-time series with the Spartans.
DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 483-287-3 record (.627) 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.
