FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (6-2) got off to an early lead behind a quality start from left hander
Josh Dye (2-0, 2.25) and cruised to victory as the Eagles defeated Bethune-Cookman (4-2), 8-3, Sunday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.
FGCU won the series against the visiting Wildcats, 2-1, and has won two straight series to start the season for the first time since 2014. Additionally, the Eagles' 6-2 start to the campaign is its best since the 2013 season and has head coach
Dave Tollett four victories shy of the 500-win plateau.
Coming off an elbow injury that forced him to miss the entire 2016 season,
Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) tossed a career-high 6.0 innings and allowed one run on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Opposite the FGCU lefty, Bethune-Cookman right hander Anthony Maldonado suffered the loss after lasting two batters into the third inning.
Despite leaving a season-high 14 runners on base and leaving the bases loaded on a pair of occasions, the FGCU offense provided more than enough firepower to secure the win as the Eagles collected double digit hits for the fourth time this season.
"I think we got better as the weekend went on in all aspects of the game," Tollett said. "We're pretty happy with where we are, but it gets really tough from here. Josh was good today. That's what he does. He just pitches. He's not going to blow it by you, but he spotted up well and had command of all three pitches."
Freshman infielder
Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) collected three hits in a game for the first time in his career and put the Green and Blue on the scoreboard with a RBI double in the bottom of the second inning. Later in the frame,
Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College (OK)/Brito Miami Private HS) got caught in a pickle between home and third, but came in to score as the catcher's throw got away.
Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) then flied one to right field to score Garcia and make it a 3-0 ballgame.
With Dye cruising on the mound, FGCU added to its lead with two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to push the score to 8-1. Morey circled the bases after a leadoff walk in the fourth on scored on a sacrifice fly from
Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS), before
Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) drove in his seventh run of the season on a line drive to center field.
After the Wildcats got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth, the Eagles received three straight two-out singles to load the bases in the home half and scored on one of four Bethune-Cookman wild pitches in the game.
Lovell led off the sixth with a double down the right-field line and scored two batters later as Gonzalez brought him in on a single up the middle. The FGCU shortstop then came around to score and push the Eagles' run total to eight on Morey hit a grounder up the middle that was booted by the second baseman and allowed everyone to reach safely.
Senior reliever
Garrett Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) entered the game in relief of Dye to start the seventh and earned the three-inning save – his second of the season and eighth of his FGCU career. After surrendering runs in the seventh and eighth, Anderson closed the door in the ninth with a perfect frame that included two of his four strikeouts on the afternoon.
Along with Garcia's big day at the plate, Gonzalez and Lovell collected two hits apiece and each drove in a run to go along with two and one run scored, respectively. Additionally, Morey, who exited the game with a ginger hamstring, went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI in the series finale.
UP NEXT
FGCU takes on in-state rival FAU Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium. The midweek showdown is the first of two contests between the Eagles and Owls this season. A year ago, FGCU won an extra-inning thriller against then #16 FAU at Swanson Stadium.
2017 SCHEDULE
The Eagles' schedule features eight teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Baseball Tournament including a pair of College World Series participants in preseason #2 Florida and preseason #8 Miami along with Super Regional participant and preseason #3 FSU. The five remaining NCAA Tournament teams include defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State, defending ASUN Tournament Champion Stetson, defending CAA Champion UNC Wilmington, defending C-USA Champion FAU and defending MEAC Tournament Champion Bethune-Cookman. Twenty-six of FGCU's first 30 games will be contested in Southwest Florida with 24 games scheduled to be played at Swanson Stadium and two additional games at JetBlue Park, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox. From Feb. 24 through Mar. 15, the Eagles are scheduled to play 13 consecutive games against five of the aforementioned NCAA Tournament teams.
TICKETS
Single game and season ticket packages for the 2017 FGCU baseball season are now on sale. Season tickets for games contested at Swanson Stadium can be purchased for $99, while single game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (12 and under), military and groups. For questions or more information, please contact the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145. Additonally, tickets for games versus preseason #2 Florida and preseason #3 FSU can be purchased online by clicking
here or by calling the JetBlue Park Ticket Office at 239-334-4700.
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.
DAVE TOLLETT
In his 15th season of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 496-298-3 record (.622) as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 42 All-Conference selections, 27 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 19 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, two ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one five-time MLB All-Star.
#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.
