FORT MYERS, Fla. – Gage Morey played the hero in game three of FGCU's four-game set against Eastern Michigan as FGCU came from behind to win in walk-off fashion for the second time in three games. Morey pulled a 1-1 offering through the right side, bringing Eric Gonzalez in from second to give the Eagles (3-0) a 12-11 victory over EMU (0-3) Saturday afternoon.

"It's huge. Anytime with a new team you can come from behind and win, it will be big for us down the road because we've done it, we've done it early," said head coach Dave Tollett. "For me, with a young team, I just think it's a great thing. I thought if we could ever stop them, we could win the ballgame but we didn't stop them much today. Our offense, I believed if we could have got to Hering like we did it would give us a shot."

In a contest that lasted four hours and saw FGCU go from leading 4-1 to trailing by as much as 10-6, the Green and Blue did enough to pull off their second walk-off win of the season. Home runs from Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) and Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) sparked FGCU's offense at various points during the game while pitching performances from Justin Gill (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region HS/Polk State) and Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Viera HS/Eastern Florida State College) kept the Eagles close, setting up a dramatic ninth inning. Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) found holes on either side of the infield, the first scoring Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) while the second scored Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./American Senior HS/ASA College) to give FGCU the 12-11 win.

Both Eastern Michigan and FGCU exchanged home runs in the first, with EMU's Zachary Owings hitting his off the foul pole in left while Gilmore crushed his off the board in right-center.

With the game tied at 1-1, FGCU plated three runs in the second, thanks to RBIs from Smith, Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS), and Coffers to put FGCU in front 4-1.

EMU then responded with a pair of runs in the third to cut the FGCU advantage to 4-3 only for the Green and Blue to get one of those runs back. In the bottom of the third, Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) drove the first pitch he saw to left center bringing Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Kansas City Kansas Community College) in from first base.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Eastern Michigan scored five runs on six hits and an FGCU error to jump in front 8-5 only for Brait to make it 8-6 in the fifth with his first home run of the season and FGCU's second of the day.

Two more runs in the sixth for the visitors, including one more with two outs, pushing the deficit to 10-6 for the moment but FGCU put up a crooked number in its half of the inning.

After Coffers singled with one out and stole second, Morey walked before Coffers swiped third. Gilmore then walked, loading the bases for Lovell who also walked to bring home Coffers. Following a pitching change, Brait reached on a fielder's choice to score Morey. With two on and two out, Garcia popped up a 2-0 pitch along the line in left where three EMU fielders converged but none could make the play, scoring two runs and cutting the lead to 10-9.

Gill made his FGCU debut in the fourth inning and allowed just one earned run over 3.1 innings, striking out four before giving way to Hering in the eighth. The senior entered with a runner at second base and forced two ground balls before ending the inning with a strikeout to send the Eagles into the bottom half, trailing 11-9.

Yesterday's hero Brait collected his second hit of the afternoon, hitting a double to the wall in right that scored Lovell from first, making it 11-10 as FGCU went down to its final three outs.

With one away in the ninth, Smith was hit by a pitch and moved to second after Levine, who pinch-hit for Proffitt, sent a grounder through the left side. Coffers then came through with a base hit on an 0-1 count, finding the same hole as Levine, scoring Smith to tie the game. Three pitches later, Morey pulled the 1-1 pitch through the right side, bringing in Gonzalez who was on to run for Levine completing the comeback victory.

Hering (2-0) is credited for the win after posting two innings of scoreless work. Coffers and Morey both tallied three hits, while Brait, Garcia, and Jay Hayes (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) collected two.

UP NEXT
FGCU goes for the four-game sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m. when the same two ball clubs meet again in the finale.

FOLLOW ALONG
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DAVE TOLLETT
In his 16th season, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 536-316-3 record (.626) as the only head coach in the program's history and is coming off the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. 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, including as high as #9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 49 All-Conference selections, 29 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.