WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (28-16, 4-8 ASUN) dug itself in an early hole that was too big to overcome as the Eagles lost to FAU (26-13-1, 12-6 C-USA), 13-1, Tuesday night at the brand new Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

FAU used a trio of crooked innings to get to its 13-run total as the Owls scored five in the second, four in the third and four more in the fifth to jump out to a 13-0 lead.

Leading off the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC/Alexander HS) broke up the shutout as he sent the third pitch he saw from FAU reliever Kyle Marman onto the catwalk beyond the home team's bullpen in right field – a good 380 feet from home plate and elevated approximately 15 feet above the ground.

Making his first collegiate start, Trey Vickery (1-1, 6.97) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits in 2.1 innings pitched. His FAU counterpart, Blake Sanderson (1-0, 1.35), earned the win in a designated staff day for the Owls as he pitched 2.0 scoreless innings.

"FAU was better than us tonight, plain and simple," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "We battled them tough in the first meeting and came out on top, but they gave it to us tonight. They're a good baseball team, and we know we're a good baseball team too. We showed it earlier in the year and need to get back to what was working for us then. There are three weeks left in the regular season, starting with NJIT this weekend, and we hope to get back on track."

After Vickery (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) struck out three of the first five Owls he faced, FAU got to the freshman southpaw with five runs on five hits in the bottom of the second inning. Pedro Pages got things going with a RBI single thru the left side before Jordan Poore drove in another on a RBI groundout. David Miranda followed with a two-out, two-RBI single and Esteban Puerta finished things off in the frame with a RBI base knock up the middle.

FAU loaded the bases with one out in the next frame and chased Vickery from the game. With Christian Townsend (Safety Harbor, Fla./Countryside HS) on the mound in relief, leadoff man Tyler Frank drove in another run on a potential inning-ending double play booted by shortstop Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS). With two outs and the bases still loaded, Miranda hit a bases-clearing double to right center to extend the lead to 9-0.

Freshman reliever Matt Rumpf (Coconut Creek, Fla./Monarch HS), whose only appearance this season prior to Tuesday night came on Feb. 18, was the Eagles' fifth pitcher of the game and third of the bottom of the fifth inning. After entering the game with the bases loaded and one out, Puerta greeted Rumpf with a grand slam to left field to make it a 13-0 ballgame.

Playing just 15 miles from where he grew up, redshirt junior Parker Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS) was a bright spot on the mound as he pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and retired six of seven batters faced. Peyton Gray (Columbus, Ind./Gulf Coast State/Columbus East HS) picked up where Hamilton left off as he tossed a scoreless eighth.

Offensively, Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) turned in his second straight two-hit game, and Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) matched him with two hits in the game. The Green and Blue duo accounted for four of the team's eight hits.

UP NEXT
FGCU heads to Newark, N.J., to take on NJIT (4-31, 0-12 ASUN) in a three-game series this weekend. Game one at the Bear & Eagles Riverfront Stadium is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. with game two taking place Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by the series finale Sunday at 11 a.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 518-312-3 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, 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.