DELAND, Fla. – Trailing 6-1 to start the bottom of the ninth inning, No. 3 FGCU (38-18, 13-8 ASUN) tried to put together a late rally to claim its fifth straight win against the Kennesaw State (25-30, 10-11 ASUN) but ultimately suffered a 6-3 loss Thursday night at Melching Field.

The Green and Blue collected three straight hits to start the final frame and cut the lead to 6-2 while running Kennesaw State starting pitcher AJ Moore (5-7, 6.12) from the game.

With two on and nobody out, Owls right-hander Eric Stahl entered from the bullpen and issued a walk to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Spencer Levine (Miami, Fla./Seminole State College/Miami Killian Senior HS) stepped to the plate representing the tying run and hit a RBI groundout to cut the lead to 6-3. Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) then stepped in the box with a pair of runners in scoring position and two outs and went down swinging to end the game.

Both starting pitchers factored into the decision as DeLand native Josh Dye (8-4, 3.39) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Opposite Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS), Moore earned the win as he pitched a season-high 8.0-plus innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

The loss snaps a 10-game win streak against ASUN opponents and moves FGCU to the loser's bracket, where the Eagles will square off with No. 6 Lipscomb in an elimination game tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. That winner of that game will then go on to face the loser of No. 1 Jacksonville and Kennesaw State at approximately 7 p.m.

"We've got to do it the hard way now," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "It's not necessarily the situation we wanted to be in after tonight, but we still believe in ourselves and know we can rattle off some wins. Give credit to Kennesaw State. They responded from last weekend and got a good outing on the mound with some big hits at the plate. We'll put this one behind and get back out there tomorrow to try and keep our hopes alive."

In a scoreless game heading to the bottom of the fifth, Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a groundout before Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) stepped to the plate with two outs and got the Green and Blue on the scoreboard with a RBI triple to deep right center.

Dye stranded a pair of Owls in both the second and third innings and got through the first six frames of the game unscathed. However, Kennesaw State was able to get to lanky left-hander in the top of the seventh when Grant Williams hit a one-out double into the gap in left center to even the score at one. With Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) on the mound in relief of Dye, Corey Greeson greeted the senior right-hander with a two-RBI single to right field to give the Owls a 3-1 lead.

The three runs in the top of the seventh for the Owls snapped a 23.0-inning scoreless streak for FGCU pitching dating back to the second inning of Saturday's regular season finale at Kennesaw State.

Kennesaw State then scored three runs in the top of the eighth that turned out to be the difference in the game. After the throw on a potential double play ball to start the inning went wide of the bag at first, the Owls made the mistake hurt as Taylor Allum drew a two-out walk on a borderline pitch before Jeremy Howell hit a three-run home run to straight-away center field to increase the lead to 6-1.

From there, FGCU was retired in order in the eighth before trying to mount a late rally in the ninth but ultimately coming up short.

Offensively, FGCU tallied 36 runs in the three-game set in Kennesaw to end the regular season but was held to only five hits into the ninth inning and eight hits in the game Thursday night. Lovell was the Eagles' bright spot as he tallied the only multi-hit game and drove in a run on his aforementioned first triple of the season.

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 528-314-3 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, three 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.