FORT MYERS, Fla. – A big eighth inning by Liberty proved to be the difference against the FGCU baseball team, Sunday afternoon, as the Flames took down the Eagles, 8-5, to take the series and improve to 32-18 and 17-9 in the ASUN. Meanwhile, the Eagles fall to 31-20 and 15-12 in league play.
"We just didn't' do enough to win today," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "We got wild in the eighth inning and they took advantage of that. We showed some fight after we fell behind, but it was just too little, too late."
Sophomore
Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) continued his hot stretch as he hit his 17th home run of the season as part of his three-hit day while also driving in four runs. Redshirt-junior
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to extend his on-base streak to 62 consecutive games.
On the mound, senior
Joey Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/Florida Southwestern State) was solid, pitching 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts while allowing three runs. Sophomore
Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS) also made his return to the mound with a scoreless inning after six weeks on the sidelines.
For the first time this weekend, both teams were held scoreless in the first inning, but Liberty did not wait too much longer, taking a 3-0 lead on a home run in the second.
The Eagles responded in the third with three runs of their own as graduate student
Bobby Head (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS/Austin Peay) got the Eagles on the board with a run-scoring double before Farrow clocked a two-run home run.
The score remained tied until the eighth when the Flames took advantage of three hit-by-pitches and scored five runs to take the lead.
Ellis and Farrow got one run back in the home half of the eighth as they began the inning with back-to-back doubles.
In the ninth, the first two Eagles struck out but Ellis, Farrow, and junior
Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) all singled to bring the tying run to the plate. However, the rally ended there as a strikeout ended the game.
The Green and Blue also celebrated their eight-member senior class –
Logan Sartori,
Josh Seils,
Brian Ellis,
Tyler Shuck,
Bobby Head,
Joey Mugavero,
Gus Carter, and
Corey Clement – before the game.
The Eagles will finish out the regular season this week with four games on the road beginning with #6 Miami, Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 667-405-3 overall record (.623) and a 224-127 (.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.
