FORT MYERS, Fla. – It was a complete performance from the FGCU baseball team on Sunday as the Eagles defeated Jacksonville, 11-3, at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles improve to 18-6 and 5-1 in the ASUN while the Dolphins fall to 12-10 and 1-5 in league play.
"It was a great game," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "Both pitchers did a nice job maneuvering around trouble. It was a good Sunday win, a good series win in a tough, tough conference, but we'll take it."
The Eagles had 12 hits on the day including four home runs from junior
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS), junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State), freshman
Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS), and sophomore
Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS).
On the mound, sophomore
Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS) improved to 4-0 on the year as he threw 5.2 innings with seven strikeouts while allowing just one earned run. Junior
Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) earned the save by throwing the final 3.1 innings and not allowing a run while striking out three.
As they have done all weekend, the Dolphins jumped out to an early lead with a run in the first inning, but also like they have done in all three games, the Eagles responded in the first couple of innings, this time scoring a run without a hit in the third, culminating with Povey getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Eagles took the lead the following inning as they scored four runs, beginning with a run-scoring single by redshirt-junior
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and a sacrifice fly from Farrow before Kinker connected on a two-run no-doubt home run.
Jacksonville came back with two runs in the sixth and had a chance for more, but Tipton induced a foul out to strand the bases loaded.
The Eagles put the game away in the seventh with six runs. Figueredo and Povey hit back-to-back home runs to begin the inning before junior
Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) doubled in a run, one of his team-high three hits on the day. Farrow put the exclamation point on the inning with a two-run home run the opposite way, his team-leading ninth of the season.
FGCU will return to the field on Wednesday when Miami comes to town. The Hurricanes are currently 17-6 and are coming off a sweep of #13 North Carolina. First pitch from Swanson Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.
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.
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 654-391-3 overall record (.623) and a 216-116 (.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.
