LYNCHBURG, Va. – The FGCU baseball team fell to Liberty, 11-3, Friday evening, in their wildest weather game of the season, battling heavy winds and rain in central Virginia. The Eagles fall to 20-10 on the season and 7-3 in the ASUN while the Flames improve to 18-10 and 5-5 in league play.
"The weather tonight sure was something we are not used to, but that's not an excuse," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "We weren't able to throw strikes early which led to us getting in a hole we couldn't get out of. We had opportunities later in the game, but just could not come up with the big inning to get back in the game. We'll look to do what we did last week and bounce back with two wins after a Friday loss."
Junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) and junior
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) each hit solo home runs in the game. Overall, the Eagles had eight hits and drew seven walks, but left 15 runners on base.
After sophomore
Jason Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Figueredo gave the Eagles the lead with a lead-off home run to left in the second.
Woodward was unable to work out of trouble in the bottom of the second as the Flames scored three runs to take the lead. Liberty added a run in each of the next two innings to take a 5-1 lead after four innings.
Kinker got a run back with an opposite-field home run in the sixth, his ninth of the season and 31st of his career.
After Liberty scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, the Eagles had their last real chance in the seventh as they brought the tying run to the plate after junior
Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) drew a bases-loaded walk, but a strikeout ended the inning.
The Flames added a run in the seventh and three in the eighth to put the game away.
FGCU will look to even up the series tomorrow in game two. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 656-395-3 overall record (.623) and a 218-118 (.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.
