FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite getting a record-breaking start offensively, the FGCU baseball team (13-10, 1-2 ASUN) came out on the losing side of a 13-11 battle with FAU (15-9, 4-0 C-USA) on Tuesday evening at Swanson Stadium. FGCU jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the game, thanks to five home runs, but was unable to sustain the advantage.
In addition to being highlighted by the night's five bombs, which tie for the third-most in program history, sophomore
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) tied FGCU's single-game record with a pair of homers.
"I am pretty disappointed with tonight's result," head coach
Dave Tollett said. "I thought we got off to a great start and then we got comfortable. FAU is too good of a ball club to do that against and they made us pay."
Kinker was one of four Eagles that homered in the first two innings, helping power FGCU to its early advantage. His first long ball of the night was a three-run shot in the bottom of the first that scored redshirt-sophomore
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and senior
Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS). Sophomore
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State) then completed the first-frame scoring with a shot that plated senior
Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and extended the team's lead to 5-0.
FGCU continued its torrid start in the second when freshman
Mac Moise (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) fired off a first-pitch homer, the first of his career, which was followed by back-to-back solo shots off the bats of Garcia and Kinker. With the blasts, the Eagles jumped out to an 8-0 edge.
For the first time in his career, redshirt-junior
Jake Lister (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/FAMU) earned the start on the bump. The southpaw worked around multiple Owls in his first two frames, including a bases-loaded jam in the second. After allowing FAU to juice the base paths once again, he was relieved in the top of the third by redshirt-freshman
Levi Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS). The Owls sent a pair of runners in, one of whom was unearned, before Shuck was able to get out of the frame.
FAU continued to do damage in the fourth, using a seven-spot to take a 9-8 lead. Both Shuck and freshman
Chase Chatman (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast HS) were tagged with runs during the spurt, which included a two-out Owl grand slam. The Eagles were finally able to get out of the inning when freshman
Jacob Lojewski (West Palm Beach, Fla./American Heritage Delray) and Garcia threw out a runner trying to steal second.
Over the next two frames, FGCU used three runs to regain the lead. Ellis, who was plunked at the start of the fourth, swiped a bag to get into scoring position and eventually tied things up at 9-9 when he scored on Kinker's RBI groundout. Though an FAU pitching change forced the Eagles to leave the bases loaded in that inning, Ellis' RBI triple and Garcia's sac fly handed the home team an 11-9 advantage.
After posting a clean slate in the top of the fifth, sophomore
Chris Seymour (Boynton Beach, Fla./Park Vista HS) got into a bit of trouble in his next inning of work when the Owls loaded up the bases once again. The Eagles brought freshman reliever
Mason Miller (Odessa, Fla./Mitchell HS) out from the bullpen, who let all three of the inherited runners score and put the visiting team ahead 12-11. The rookie was eventually tagged with the loss, moving him to 2-3 on the season.
Despite being held scoreless over the next two frames thanks to the efforts of junior
Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) and sophomore
Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State), the Owls were able to tack on one final insurance run in the top of the ninth. Tipton, who left the game with a pair on and no outs, handed the ball over to freshman
Jason Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) and the rookie relieved the pressure by ending the inning.
FGCU struggled to string anything together offensively down the stretch, leaving a combined three runners stranded over the final four frames. Freshman
Zac Calhoon (Osprey, Fla./Venice HS), who gave the Eagles a glimmer of hope with his pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth, was the Eagle of the day to get aboard as closer Braden Ostrander was able to preserve the visitors' win.
The Eagles will now prepare for an upcoming ASUN Conference series on the road at UNF. FGCU is scheduled to play four games against the Ospreys, starting with a 6:30 p.m. contest on Thursday, April 1. The teams will then play at the same time on Friday, April 2 before capping things off with a 2:05 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 3.
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at
www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| UNF |
3-0 |
9-11 |
| Stetson |
2-1 |
16-9 |
| FGCU |
1-2 |
13-10 |
| Jacksonville |
0-3 |
5-15 |
North Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| Liberty |
5-1 |
16-7 |
| Kennesaw State |
4-2 |
16-8 |
| Bellarmine |
4-5 |
8-14 |
| Lipscomb |
2-4 |
8-11 |
| North Alabama |
3-6 |
4-17 |
Upcoming Series
Thursday, April 1 - Saturday, April 3
Liberty at Kennesaw State
North Alabama at Davidson
FGCU at UNF
Stetson at Jacksonville
Bellarmine at Lipscomb
Recent Results
Tuesday, March 30
Duke 5, Liberty 4
FAU 13, FGCU 11
USF 7, Stetson 3
Jacksonville 11, UCF 6
Lipscomb 14, Austin Peay 7
No. 21 Kentucky 4, Bellarmine 3
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 622-374-3 overall record (.625) and a 200-111 (.646) record in the ASUN. He is 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 five-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to five ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as No. 9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 54 all-conference selections, 33 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 13 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.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 40 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM—
