CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Despite giving up the third-lowest runs in the program's history with Miami, the FGCU baseball team (19-11, 7-2 ASUN) dropped a 2-3 heartbreaker at the Hurricanes' (18-11, 10-10 ACC) home field on Wednesday evening.

Redshirt-sophomore Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) was one of the game's highlights, as his first career home run tied the teams up in the top of the fifth. The solo shot leveled out the score at 2-2 before Miami was able to walk off the visiting Eagles in the bottom of the ninth.

"This was the closest matchup I've seen between these two teams in a while," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We knew coming into tonight's game that it was going to be a battle because midweek games in the state of Florida always are. I thought that Tyler Tipton had a great game and gave us a good chance, but we just weren't able to pull off a win tonight. It's disappointing, but we look forward to having another crack at this team next week."

The Hurricanes, who entered the game having already earned a 15-2 victory at Swanson Stadium earlier this season (March 17), got right to work in the first and took an early 1-0 lead with a RBI single. Miami threatened to do further damage after loading up the bases, but sophomore starter Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) took a batter down swinging for the third out.

FGCU left a pair of runners stranded in the second before scoring its first run of the night in the top of the third. Junior Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) reached base as the tying run after drawing a walk and was quickly joined on the base paths by Ellis, who notched the team's first hit of the night with a single. Though the Hurricanes tried to end the threat with an early pitching change, Figueredo came in to score on a wild pitch.

After forcing Miami to put up back-to-back zeros, Tipton was taken deep in the bottom of the fourth by Preseason All-American Alex Toral. The solo shot, which put the home team up 2-1, was the only offense of the frame as Tipton went on to retire the side.

Ellis matched the effort in the next half inning, launching his own home run out to right center. The one-out shot knotted the teams back up at 2-2.

A pair of errors allowed the Hurricanes to put the go-ahead run on third in their half of the inning, but Tipton relieved the pressure by recording back-to-back outs. FGCU made a push of its own in the top of the sixth after a sac bunt off the bat of senior Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) sent sophomore Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State) over to second, but the Eagles left him stranded.

Tipton went on to retire seven-straight batters after the scare in the fifth before another Eagle miscue allowed a runner to reach in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs on the board, he handed the ball over to junior Joey Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/Florida Southwestern State), who forced the first 'Cane he faced to ground out.

FGCU's offense slowed down a bit after its chance in the sixth, while Miami went on to load up the bases in the bottom of the eighth. Senior Hunter McGarry (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/State College of Florida-Manatee) was called in from the bullpen and threw just two pitches before a 4-6-3 double play sent the game into the ninth.

The Eagles had one final chance to score thanks to Farrow, who reached in the ninth with his second hit of the night, but the inning ended before the team could break open the tie. Pinch-hitter Kayfus set the stage for Miami's walkoff by leading off with a single. After reaching second on a sac bunt, he handed the team its final 3-2 advantage when he was waved in on Vilar's knock.

McGarry was tagged with the loss, moving him to 1-1 on the year. Tipton's 6.2-inning appearance is the longest of his Green & blue career-to-date. He tied his career-high of three punchouts and issued just two walks while scattering five hits. He was tagged with both runs. 

Tonight's game marks the 13th time in the teams' 28-game history that FGCU has held Miami to five-or-less runs. The Eagles will have one final shot at taking down the Hurricanes next week, as FGCU is slated to make the trip to Coral Gables on Wednesday, April 21. Before taking on Miami for the third time in 2021, FGCU is slated for a neutral-site weekend series against Wright State April 16-17. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday at Jacksonville State before capping off the series with a single game on Saturday. 

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
Stetson	5-1	19-10
FGCU	7-2	19-11
UNF	3-3	9-15
Jacksonville	0-9	7-21

North Division Standings

School	ASUN	Overall
Liberty	8-1	22-8
Kennesaw State	7-2	19-9
Bellarmine	5-7	10-19
Lipscomb	4-8	11-17
North Alabama	3-9	4-26

Recent Results
Tuesday, April 13
No. 19 Pitt 9, Lipscomb 6
Georgia Southern 8, UNF 6
Liberty 8, No. 17 Virginia Tech 2
Belmont 10, UNA 8
Kentucky 12, Bellarmine 0
Jacksonville State 8, Kennesaw State 4

Wednesday, April 14
Miami 3, FGCU 2

Upcoming Games
April 16-18
Kennesaw State at Bellarmine
FGCU vs Wright State (neutral site @ Jacksonville State)
Liberty at North Alabama
UNF at Stetson
Appalachian State at Lipscomb

COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 627-375-3 overall record (.625) and a 205-112 (.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—