FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a battle of the top two teams in the ASUN East division, the FGCU baseball team came up short in the series opener against Kennesaw State, falling to the Owls, 8-5, at Swanson Stadium, Friday evening. The Eagles fall to 18-8 and 5-2 in the ASUN while KSU improves to 18-7 and 7-0 in league play.
"We knew this series was going to be tight," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "To win games between two good teams, you are going to have to make winning plays and tonight, Kennesaw did that. We'll have to bounce back tomorrow to try to even the series."
The Eagles managed 10 hits, all singles, and had 16 total baserunners, but were unable to come with the big hit as they left 11 runners on base. Junior
Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) picked up three hits on the night to lead FGCU while also driving in one run and scoring another.
After Kennesaw State took the lead in the second inning on a home run, the Eagles responded in the third with two runs to take the lead as freshman
Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) beat out an infield single before Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Owls tied the game back up in the fourth and took the lead in the fifth. In the sixth, Josh Hatcher, the reigning National Player of the Week, hit a grand slam to expand the Kennesaw lead to 8-2 after six innings.
FGCU had its best chance to do damage in the eighth inning as they loaded the bases on two hits and a hit-by-pitch. Junior
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/Pasco-Hernando State/ECU) was hit by another pitch before graduate student
Logan Sartori (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Texas A&M/Hutchinson CC) and redshirt-junior
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) walked to force in two more. The threat ended there, however, as Jared Rine got a strikeout to leave the bases loaded.
In the ninth, the Eagles got the tying run to the plate again, but a pop up ended the game.
The two teams will be back tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 654-393-3 overall record (.623) and a 216-117 (.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.
