FORT MYERS, Fla. – Behind a career day at the plate from leadoff hitter
Matt Reardon, the #24 FGCU baseball team (14-2) exploded for 13 runs on 15 hits and defeated defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State (5-8), 13-1, Saturday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.
The Eagles' run and hit totals were good for season highs and marks the most in each category since scoring 19 runs on 18 hits at Lipscomb on May 14 of last season.
Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) became the first member of the Green and Blue to collect four hits in a game this season and matched his career high in the category. Additionally, he matched the Division I program record with eight RBI in the game – previously recorded by Zach Maxfield during the 2009 season – and extended his hit streak to 13 games.
As a team, all nine Eagles in the starting lineup recorded a hit, and the combination of Reardon and
Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College (OK)/Brito Miami Private HS) went 7-for-12 from the plate with 10 RBI.
On the mound, FGCU got another quality outing from starter
Kutter Crawford (4-0, 1.04), who earned his fourth win in as many starts and hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 15.2 innings pitched. The Green and Blue surrendered its lone unearned run in the top of the second inning and matched its season low by allowing only five hits – two of which came in the final inning.
With the win, FGCU continues its best start in program history and extends its win streak to 10 games. The Eagles current streak is the longest since also winning 10 games in 2013 and is tied for the second longest in Division I program history. The Green and Blue won 11 straight games during the 2009 season.
"I thought it started with Kutter, who turned in another quality start for us," said FGCU head coach
Dave Tollett. "Our offense really got cranked up as well, and it was a pretty good game for us offensively, defensively and on the mound. Matt is a terrific hitter and had a huge day at the plate, but the bottom of the lineup deserves some of the credit by getting on base for him, which is really a plus for us offensively."
Ohio State struck first with an unearned run on a groundball error in the top of the second inning, but it didn't take long for FGCU respond as the bats started to come alive with three runs in each of the next two frames. With one out and runners on first and second in the home half of the second inning, FGCU received three straight RBI singles from
Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS), Reardon and Gonzalez to take a lead it would never surrender.
Its next at bat, the Eagles put together a two-out rally and plated three more runs to extends its lead to 6-1. After back-to-back singles and a hit-by-pitch, Reardon stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and sent a 1-1 pitch over the left fielder's head to clear the bases.
FGCU's bats went quiet through the middle innings, but the Green and Blue maintained its 6-1 lead thanks to the combination of
Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS) and
Peyton Gray (Columbus, Ind./Gulf Coast State). Crawford allowed only one hit in 6.0 innings pitched and recorded eight more strikeouts. In 26.0 innings pitched this season, the junior right hander, who entered the game tied for 13th in the category, has now struck out 38 batters. Gray made his second appearance of the week and picked up right where he left on Wednesday night as he tossed a pair of hitless innings and has now retired 24 of the last 26 batters he has faced dating back to his outing in Gainesville.
With the FGCU pitching duo holding the Buckeyes in check from the mound, the Eagles' offense came to life again with an insurance run in the seventh and six more in the eighth. Morey drew a two-out walk and scored the following pitch as Reardon sent a first-pitch fastball over the right fielder's head for this fifth RBI of the game.
Much like last night, FGCU saw its first five batters in the bottom of the eighth inning reach and the Eagles scored a pair of runs before the first out was recorded. After back-to-back strikeouts, Ohio State appeared it was going to be able to get out of the inning without further damage, but Reardon dug in with the bases loaded for the second time in the game and came through with his second bases-clearing double. Gonzalez came up behind the FGCU leadoff man and delivered with a RBI double of his own to make it the 13-1 final. In his last five games, the Puerto Rico native has recorded 10 hits with seven RBI and has gone 3-for-6 in back-to-back games against the Buckeyes.
Freshman right hander
Sebastian Gruszecki (Dudley, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional HS) made his fourth appearance of the season and worked around a pair of singles to hold the opposing Buckeyes in check in the final frame and close out the impressive win. As a staff, the Eagles have no held its opponents to three or less runs in six of its last seven games.
UP NEXT
The series finale between the Eagles and Buckeyes is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. FGCU redshirt sophomore
Josh Dye (3-0, 1.86) will take his perfect record to the mound to face Ohio State right hander Adam Neimeyer (1-2, 5.14).
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. Additionally, tickets for next Wednesday's games versus #2 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 504-298-3 record (.626) 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.
