NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After falling in an early hole, No. 5 FGCU's (24-31, 9-12 A-Sun) comeback effort came up short they dropped a 12-6 decision to No. 2 UNF (38-17, 15-6 A-Sun) in game one of the A-Sun Baseball Championships at Lipscomb's Dugan Field Wednesday afternoon.
 
In a game that was suspended 45 minutes due to a lightning delay following the completion of Stetson's upset win against top-seeded Kennesaw State, the Eagles outscored the Ospreys 6-2 in the final five innings, but a 10-0 deficit through the first four innings proved to be insurmountable.
 
FGCU right hander Brady Anderson (5-6, 3.75), who set the program record for innings pitched in the start, suffered the loss after being touched up early by the Ospreys. Out of the opposite dugout, UNF's Bryan Baker (6-4, 2.27) earned the win.
 
"They're a good offensive team, and we dug ourselves in too big of a hole early," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "It's win or go home now. We need to put this one behind us and come back ready to go early tomorrow against another tough opponent."
 
UNF got on the scoreboard early as the first three batters reached with Keith Skinner bouncing a double over the head of first baseman Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) to drive in Kyle Brooks. However, Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) did a good job to minimize the damage as he retired the next three batters to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.
 
The Ospreys extended the lead in their next at-bat with five runs on five hits, three of which went for extra-bases, with the big blast coming on a two-run home run from Corbin Olmstead. Earlier in the inning, Bubba Olivera hit a RBI single off the wall in left before Dakota Higdon drove in two more on a single up the middle.
 
After Alex Merritt was caught stealing to record the second out of the bottom of the third inning, Olivera followed Chris Berry's two-out single thru the right side with another two-run home run over the leaping glove of Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) in left center. UNF added two more in the next inning with a pair of bases-loaded walks to make it a 10-0 ballgame.
 
FGCU got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning after Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) hit a leadoff single thru the right side and advanced to third on a double down the left-field line from Matt Roberts (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS). With a pair of runners in scoring position, Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) and Smith drove in runs on back-to-back RBI groundouts to cut the Ospreys' lead to 10-2.
 
After UNF got the pair of runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning on a passed ball and sacrifice fly, FGCU chipped away with four runs on four hits in the top of the eighth. Smith and Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) led off the frame with a single and double, respectively, before Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) drove in his 54th run of the season and pinch hitter Jay Hayes (Altamonte, Fla./Lyman HS) singled up the middle. The Eagles then took advantage of a UNF fielding miscue to plate two more runs on a RBI groundout from Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC) and RBI single from Morey to cut the UNF advantage to 12-6. However, it was too little too late for the Green and Blue as they went down in order in the top of the ninth.
 
Offensively, Smith extended his hit streak to 12 games and, with another two-hit performance, has now tallied multiple hits in nine contests during the streak. Morey also recorded two hits in the contest to go along with one run scored and another driven in.
 
After making his collegiate pitching debut just 11 days ago, freshman Nick Blasucci (Fort Myers, Fla./Riverdale HS) tossed 4.2 innings of relief and allowed only one earned run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
 
With today's results, FGCU moves to the loser's bracket and will play Kennesaw State (29-26, 17-4 A-Sun) in a rematch of last weekend's regular-season finale Thursday at 12 p.m. ET. The Eagles will send right hander Kenton Hering (2-2, 5.58) to the mound to oppose the Owls' southpaw Chris Erwin (3-2, 5.66). The winner of tomorrow's matchup will live to see another day while the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 14 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 487-295-3 record (.623) 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.