MIAMI – Facing a tough FIU team that has been swinging the bats well as of late and won six of its last seven games, FGCU (28-12, 4-5 ASUN) suffered its second shutout loss of the season as the Panthers (23-15, 8-7 C-USA) defeated the Eagles, 7-0, Wednesday night at FIU Baseball Stadium.

FIU jumped out to a first-inning lead for the second straight night and never looked back. After FGCU starter Peyton Gray (3-2, 4.53) worked to a full count against the first three Panthers he faced and issued a leadoff walk and one-out single, JC Escarra gave FIU the early lead with a two-out, two-RBI double down the right-field line.

The Panthers never looked back from there as starting pitcher Chris Mourelle (4-2, 5.36), who has served as the team's Friday night starter in the first half of the season, tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and gave way to a trio of bullpen arms that allowed just one hit the rest of the way.

FGCU hit the ball hard a number of times on the night as the Eagles registered six line drive and deep fly ball outs but was only able to manage two hits in the same inning on one occasion – the top of the sixth.

"FIU is a good baseball team," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "They played well in all three aspects of the game the last two nights, and we didn't. That's the bottom line. I thought we put together more quality at-bats than the box score shows, but that's baseball sometimes. We have a tough stretch of road games coming up, starting with UNF this weekend, and look to get this thing rolling again."

Playing with a 2-0 lead, the Panthers extended its advantage in the home half of the third as the first three batters of the inning reached and Irving Lopez scored his second run of the game on a RBI single up the middle from Zach Soria. After a sacrifice bunt moved a pair of runners into scoring position with one out, FGCU escaped further damage as Escarra lined into an inning-ending double play.

Freshman catcher Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) reached base for the 15th straight contest as he hit a leadoff single through the right side to start the fourth. The Eagles again had its leadoff man reach for the second straight inning as Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) drew a walk to start the fifth inning, but, like Brait the inning prior, Morey was stranded in scoring position.

Gray (Columbus, Ind./Gulf Coast State/Columbus East HS) hit nine-hole hitter Derek Cartaya with an 0-2 pitch to start the bottom of the fifth and was relieved by Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS). Lopez then sent the first pitch he saw from Koerner over the right-field wall to extend the lead to 5-0.

FIU added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth after Kenny Meimerstorf hit a leadoff single and came in to score on Escarra's second RBI double of the night. Escarra later crossed home plate on a pinch-hit RBI single from Christian Coipel to cap off the scoring for the night.

Offensively, Brait accounted for three of the Eagles' five hits and recorded his third three-hit game of the season. Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College (OK)/Brito Miami Private HS) and Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) accounted for the other two.

UP NEXT
FGCU hits the road for an ever-important conference road series at UNF. Game one in Jacksonville is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. followed by games two and three Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

TICKETS
Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2017 FGCU baseball season are on sale. 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.

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 518-308-3 record (.625) 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, 15 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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.