DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team ran its winning streak up to six on Sunday as they completed the three-game sweep of Bethune-Cookman with an 8-2 win. The Eagles now sit at 6-2 on the season while the Wildcats fall to 1-6.
"It's always a good feeling when you complete a sweep, especially on the road," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "Our guys really showed me something with how they competed against a tough team and we hope to continue this momentum when we return home this week."
Lost in all the offensive fireworks to begin the season has been the Eagle pitching staff, which continued to impress on Sunday as four pitchers combined to allow just one earned run and five hits while striking out seven. In the three-game set, the FGCU pitchers allowed just seven runs, only three of which were earned.
Sophomore Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS) started the game on the mound and threw three scoreless with two strikeouts before junior Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) followed with just one unearned run in three innings.
After junior Darien Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian HS/Eastern Florida State College/Jacksonville) relieved Smith with one run in two innings, senior Joey Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/Florida Southwestern State) closed the door with a hitless ninth.
Junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) led the Eagles with three hits and is now hitting .519 on the season. Sophomore Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) added a hit and a game-high two RBI to give him 15 for the season which leads the team.
It looked like it was going to be another high-scoring affair for the Eagles as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one on a sacrifice fly by Farrow and a run-scoring double play.
Sophomore Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) tacked on another run in the second with a single before redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) drove in a run with a double in the fourth and Rodriguez added one more in the fifth on an RBI single.
The Wildcats put up a run in the sixth and eighth, but the Eagles added some insurance runs in the ninth as Farrow hit a sacrifice fly before two more runs came into score on an error.
Mugavero secured the sweep in the ninth, ending the game with his second strikeout of the inning.
The Eagles will return home this week for four games beginning with a midweek game against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday at 6 p.m.before hosting Seton Hall for three games next weekend.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 642-387-3 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.
