GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (8-4) suffered a 15-0 loss against No. 5 Florida (10-4) in its first road game of the season Tuesday night in Gainesville.

The Green and Blue finished with just four hits at Alfred A. McKethan stadium and conceded 14 to the Gators.

"We left the bases loaded early on in the game," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We had chances, but we were unable to capitalize on them. And we gave Florida some extra outs. With a team that's as good as that program is, you can't afford to make that many mistakes. But the good thing about baseball is that we've got another shot tomorrow."

The Eagles only trailed by as much as two in the first four innings until Florida's offense erupted in the bottom of the fifth. The Gators put up 10 runs in that inning, sealing their victory.

Eric Gonzalez (Miami, FL/American HS/ASA College), Alex Brait (Viera, FL/Viera HS), Keith Stevens (Miami, FL/Miami Killian HS/Hillsborough CC) and Marc Coffers (Naples, FL/Barron Collier HS) had the four hits for the Eagles. FGCU had runners in scoring position four separate times and got the bases loaded in one instance.  

Six different pitchers made appearances for the Green and Blue. Nikolas Bitner (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast HS/Indian River), who made the start, was tagged with the loss after his 2.2 innings of work. Bitner struck out one and gave up three hits.

Justin Gill (Winter Haven, FL/Lake Region HS/Polk State), Keegan Collett (Dallas, TX/Trinity Christian School/Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa), Gus Carter (Melbourne, FL/Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern) and Chris Seymour (Boynton Beach, FL/Park Vista HS) all had relief outings for the Eagles, combining for six strikeouts.

Garrett Bye (Riverview, FL/Riverview HS/Miami Dade USF) made his fifth appearance of the season and fanned one Gator through his inning of work to close out the night for the Eagles.

Three different Gators homered during tonight's game. Brady McConnell was the first to do so when he sent a ball over the fence in center field in the bottom of the first, Brady Smith crushed one out to left center in the bottom of the third and Austin Langworthy added his own in the bottom of the seventh.

UP NEXT
The teams will face off once more tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium. The start time is subject to change and dependent on weather conditions in Gainesville tomorrow.

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.
 
COACH TOLLETT
Through 16 full seasons, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 573-341-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history and led the program to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017. 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 54 All-Conference selections, 31 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 seven-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.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 74 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 34 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport.  The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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