FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball split a pair of games against Fairfield, Sunday at Swanson Stadium, dropping game one, 7-6, before coming back to win game two, 14-4. The Eagles now sit at 12-4 on the season while the Stags go to 4-8.
"It's good every time you win a series," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "I think we let one get away, but we have to move on. We're happy with the series win and we have a big week ahead of us with North Dakota State, a regional team coming in on Wednesday and then we start conference play on Friday, so a big week ahead for Eagle baseball."
In game one of the day, the Eagles fell behind 1-0 in the second, but junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) tied up the game in the fourth with his fourth home run of the season.
The Stags retook the lead in the fifth with four runs before tacking on another in the sixth.
FGCU began to rally back in the seventh and eighth as sophomore
Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) and junior
Luis Rodriguez (Guarenas, Venezuela/Miami Christian HS/Santa Fe College/Dyersburg State) each hit two-run home runs to cut the Eagle deficit to 6-5.
Fairfield added an important insurance run in the ninth as the Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on a single by Figueredo. FGCU had the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but could not push them across to score.
In game two, Rodriguez had a huge game as he reached base five times with two doubles, two walks, and five RBI.
The bullpen for the Eagles also provided a strong performance as graduate student
Josh Seils (Brookeville, Md./Sherwood HS/Towson), senior
Joey Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/Florida Southwestern State), and sophomore
Nolan O'Shoney (Clarksville, Tenn./Clarksville Academy/Austin Peay) combined to throw five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Figueredo and Rodriguez, but the Stags answered in the third with a grand slam.
The deficit didn't last long however as junior
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) hit a home run in the third before the Eagles scored six runs in the fourth to retake the lead. After Farrow hit a single to tie the game, Kinker, junior
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/Pasco-Hernando State/ECU), and Rodriguez each hit doubles to drive in five more runs.
With a run-rule in effect because of the doubleheader, redshirt freshman
Jahlani Rogers (Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands/East Ridge HS) ended the game in the eighth with an RBI single.
The Eagles will return to action of Wednesday for a matchup with North Dakota State. First pitch against the Bison is set for 6:30 p.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 646-388-3 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 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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.
