FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team picked up its first win of the season, Saturday evening, as they defeated Cincinnati, 10-5. The win came after the Eagles dropped a wild 15-14 contest in game one of the doubleheader.
The Green and Blue are now 1-2 on the season while the Bearcats are 2-1.
"It was a hard-fought day," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "With this team, we're never out of it. They fought back and showed me a lot. Our record doesn't show how good we are, but I think that this team is going to be one of the best to ever play here. They are fun bunch and if we get this thing turned around, we are going to be a force to be reckoned with."
In the victory in game two, junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI while graduate student
Bobby Head (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS/Austin Peay) had a hit and a game-high three RBI.
The Eagles jumped out to a big lead in the first inning as they scored six runs which included a two-run single from Head and a run-scoring double by junior
Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State).
Cincinnati got back into the game, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings, but the Eagles got those runs back in the fourth and fifth. Figueredo had an RBI single in the fourth before a sacrifice fly by Head, a single by Rodriguez, and a triple by sophomore
Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) pushed three runs across in the fifth.
Junior
Darien Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian HS/Eastern Florida State College/Jacksonville) picked up the win for the Eagles as he threw the final four innings in relief, allowing just one unearned run while striking out five.
In the first game of the day, the Eagles jumped out to a big lead as well, scoring five runs in the first inning. Freshman
Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) had a big first inning as he drove in two runs on a single which came on the heels of robbing a three-run home run in right field in the top of the inning.
The Eagle lead did not last, however, as Cincinnati scored one in the second, two in the third, and six in the fifth to take 9-6 lead.
Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles trailed 14-9, but with help of four walks and a hit-by-pitch, FGCU cut its deficit to 14-12 and had the bases loaded for junior
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/Pasco-Hernando State/ECU), who laced an 0-2 pitch the opposite way for a game-tying single.
After a scoreless tenth for both teams, the Bearcats took the lead with a run on a wild pitch in the 11th. In the home half, the Eagles could not mount a second comeback and fell just short.
The two teams will wrap up the four-game series tomorrow. First pitch from Swanson Stadium is set for 11 a.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 637-387-3 overall record (.623) and a 211-115 (.647) 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 58 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
