CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Redshirt sophomore left-hander Josh Dye turned in arguably his best performance of the season, but No. 2 FGCU (43-19) ultimately dropped a 2-1 decision in a pitcher's duel against Evan Roberts and No. 4 Davidson (34-24) Saturday night at Boshamer Stadium.

After a two-out walk was issued to Brian Fortier to move Cam Johnson into scoring position, Davidson added an insurance run on a RBI single from Eric Jones in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead to 2-0.

Coming off a two-home run performance Friday night, redshirt senior Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) got the Eagles to within a run as he led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run. It was Rivera's 20th home run of the season – matching former Eagle Zach Maxfield's single-season program record from 2009 – and the 46th of his FGCU career.

However, right-handed reliever Westin Whitmire entered the game following Rivera's home run and retired the next three Eagles to record his 13th save of the season and send the Wildcats to the Chapel Hill Regional Final.

Dye (8-5, 3.16) pitched a career-high 8.0 innings and allowed the two earned runs on nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Opposite Dye (Deland, Fla./DeLand HS), Roberts (4-1, 3.83) pitched one batter into the ninth inning and allowed the lone blemish to Rivera. The Davidson southpaw allowed five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Fourteen of FGCU's outs came on the first or second pitch of the at-bat.

"I thought it was a great pitchers' duel," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "[Evan] Roberts was good. [Josh] Dye was good. They got the key hit. We didn't get the key hit. I felt like we hit several balls on the screws. They made some great plays defensively. We just could not get anything to fall, but I'm happy with our effort, especially Dye. I thought that was the best game he's pitched all year against a really good offense."

After Dye pitched a perfect opening frame, Davidson got on the scoreboard with three straight singles to start the bottom of the second inning. However, the FGCU hurler did a great job to minimize the damage as he got a pair of soft lineouts to shortstop before third baseman Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) made a nice sliding stab in the hole and throw to first to end the frame.

FGCU was ready to respond in its next at-bat when Jake Smith's (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) one-out single was followed by a Spencer Levine (Miami, Fla./Seminole State College/Miami Killian Senior HS) double to center field to put a pair of runners in scoring position. However, leadoff man Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College (OK)/Brito Miami Private HS) hit a sharp grounder to third to keep both runners put before Roberts got out of the inning unscathed on a groundout to short.

The impressive defensive display continued in the bottom of the third inning when Brian Fortier hit a ground ball back up the middle that deflected off the leg of Dye and allowed Smith to make another nice sliding stab and flip to Gonzalezs to end the inning.

Staying within striking distance in the top of the seventh, Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) started the frame with a drive to deep right field, but Davidson outfielder Will Robertson made a leaping catch against the wall to rob the FGCU freshman of extra bases and allowed Roberts to work another quick frame.

The Wildcats then added its aforementioned insurance run in the bottom of the eighth before Rivera cut the lead to the eventual final of 2-1.

With the loss, FGCU falls into the loser's bracket and will take on host and top-seed UNC (48-13) Sunday at 1 p.m. Following a postgame coin flip Saturday night, the Eagles will serve as the home team at Boshamer Stadium.

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DAVE TOLLETT
In his 15th season of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 533-315-3 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 and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 49 All-Conference selections, 27 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 17 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.