FORT MYERS, Fla. – A late ninth-inning rally fell short with the tying run 90 feet away as the FGCU baseball team dropped a 3-2 decision Friday night to UNF. The Eagles (31-13, 7-6 ASUN) trailed the Ospreys (20-23, 5-8 ASUN) 3-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth but could not complete the comeback.
 
"German had one of his best outings against us," said head coach Dave Tollett. "He was locating his fastball but we had our chances and when you don't capitalize against a guy like that it'll cost you. These guys battled but we gave them a couple runs tonight as well. If we don't do that, we might win this one but we have to have come back tomorrow and be ready to go."
 
With five hits to their name through eight innings, the Eagles used a two-out home run from Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) to cut the deficit to 3-1. Two batters later, Eric Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./American Senior HS/ASA College) doubled off the wall in left to make it a 3-2 game. FGCU put the tying run at third but fell short on a hard hit ball up the middle fielded by the shortstop.
 
Mario Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) matched potential ASUN Pitcher of the Year candidate Frank German, who leads the ASUN in ERA, through the first two innings and kept the Green and Blue in the game throughout his outing. Scoreless through two, UNF scratched across the first run.
 
UNF grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third on a three well-placed base hits. But with runners at second and third with one out, Leon got the batter to go down swinging on a ball in the dirt. As the Osprey batter ran to first Spencer Levine (Miami, Fla./Miami Killian Senior HS/Seminole State College) threw behind the runner at third for the second out. The decision proved to be important, as an infield single on the next at-bat loaded the bases but Leon limited the damage to just one on a soft line drive to first.
 
The Osprey lead grew to 2-0 on a solo home run in the fourth before FGCU applied pressure to German.
 
FGCU's best chance to score in the middle innings came in the fifth after Gonzalez led off the inning with a walk. Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) made the situation even better with a one-out single to center, putting runners at first and second. The Eagles, however, fell victim to a perfect throw from right field on a Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) single to get Gonzalez at the plate.
 
Leon was removed with one on and two out in the seventh, giving way to Parker Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS) who promptly ended the inning.
 
After UNF manufactured a run in the eighth without recording a hit to make it 3-0, FGCU struck late in the ninth. Gilmore provided the spark, hitting his 10th home run of the season to the opposite field. After Elijah Eusebio (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior HS) hit his second infield single of the game, Gonzalez ripped a double off the wall in left to bring in Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) who was running for Eusebio. Following a wild pitch, a hard-hit grounder up the middle was fielded by the shortstop for the third out.
 
Leon finished the night with 6.2 innings pitched, seven strikeouts and two runs allowed. Hamilton meanwhile tossed 2.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on no hits.
 
UP NEXT
FGCU continues its series with UNF tomorrow at 1 p.m.
 
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 16th season, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 564-329-3 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.