FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team played its lowest-scoring game of the season, but still came out on top over Seton Hall, 4-1, thanks to tremendous pitching by sophomore Jason Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS), Friday night at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles have now won eight straight and are 8-2 on the season while the Pirates fall to 0-7.

"Woodward was awesome tonight," said head coach Dave Tollett. "We made some great plays defensively, no errors, and we got some clutch hits. It's just a good Friday night win for this program and I'm excited about it. The players really stepped up tonight."

Woodward threw 7.2 innings and did not allow a run until the eighth inning. He struck out eight batters while walking none and allowing just four hits on 99 pitches to improve to 2-1 on the season. Junior Darien Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian HS/Eastern Florida State College/Jacksonville) also continued his strong start to the season as he threw the final 1.1 innings to earn the save and drop his ERA to 0.92 in four appearances this season.

Offensively, redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) went 2-for-4 with two RBI while sophomore Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) also had two hits and an RBI.

Ellis got the Eagles on the board in the second with a bases-loaded single to drive in two. junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) tacked on another run in the third with a single of his own. Farrow capped off the scoring for the Eagles in the sixth with a base knock to drive in his 17th RBI of the season.

That proved to be more than enough for Woodward as he was on cruise control for most of the night as he had five 1-2-3 innings. After the Pirates scored in the eighth, Smith came in to shut the door on the inning and then closed it out in the ninth.



The two teams will return to Swanson tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 2 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 643-387-3 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 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.