FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team played a game to forget, Saturday afternoon against Liberty, falling to the Flames, 23-3. The Eagles fall to 31-19 and 15-11 in the ASUN while Liberty improves to 31-18 and 17-9 in league play.
"Not much went right today" said head coach
Dave Tollett. "Liberty scored early, they scored in the middle of the game, and they scored late. They came ready to play and we did not."
Before the Eagles came to bat in the first, they were already down 6-0. FGCU looked like they were going to go toe-to-toe with the Flames early as junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) and junior
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) hit back-to-back home runs in the first, but aside from an RBI single from sophomore
Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) in the eighth, that was all the Eagles could muster while the Flames kept burning bright.
Liberty scored in all but one inning, including multiple runs in five innings. The Flames ended the game with four runs each in the seventh, eighth, and ninth and set a new season-high with six home runs as part of their 26 hits on the day.
One positive from the game is that redshirt-junior
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) reached base for the 61st consecutive game, hitting a double in the second inning.
The Eagles will look to rebound and take the series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. with Senior Day ceremonies beginning at 11:40 a.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 667-404-3 overall record (.623) and a 224-126 (.641) 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 92 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 45 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.
