FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team rallied with six runs in the eighth inning to take down Lipscomb, 6-3, Wednesday afternoon at Swanson Stadium on day two of ASUN Tournament pool play. The Eagles are now 35-22 on the season and 1-1 in pool play while the Bisons fall to 35-21 and also 1-1 in pool play.

"It was a tough game all the way around," said head coach Dave Tollett. "Lipscomb played well, we played well and we capitalized on some freebies and had a big inning. We all know what's on the line tomorrow, not that anyone was looking ahead, so it should be a great game against Kennesaw."

Based on current scenarios, tomorrow's game against #3 Kennesaw State for the Eagles is a de facto elimination game with the winner advancing to Friday's semifinals. The Bisons and #1 Liberty have already clinched a spot in the semis while #6 Eastern Kentucky has also clinched a spot in the semis, clinching the lone spot out of pool B.

The Kennesaw State-FGCU game tomorrow has also been moved up from its original start time and will begin at 11 a.m.

In today's victory against Lipscomb, the Eagles trailed 1-0 after seven innings, but in the eighth, the Eagles rallied with six runs on just two hits while being hit by a pitch four times and walking once more.

The inning started relatively normal as redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) went the other way for a double before coming around to tie the game on a single up the middle by sophomore Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS). However, that was when things got crazy.

Junior Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) was hit by a pitch before junior Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) grounded out to put runners on second and third. The Bisons then brought in Trey Nordmann to pitch, who proceeded to hit junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State), freshman Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS), sophomore Mac Moise (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) on three consecutive pitches to force in two runs and give the Eagles the lead.

After a wild pitch brought in the fourth run of the inning and advanced runners to second and third, graduate student Logan Sartori (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Texas A&M/Hutchinson CC) earned a walk. However, ball four got away from the catcher to allow Povey to score easily while Sartori decided to continue down to second. When the catcher threw down to second, Moise came into score as well, and that is the story of how the Eagles scored two runs on a walk.

The Bisons hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth, but junior Nick Love (Fernandina Beach, Fla./Yulee/Central College of Florida/Jacksonville) came in to get the final out for his team-leading third save of the season.

The Eagles got great pitching all day long as sophomore Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS) started the game with two scoreless innings before junior Darien Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian HS/Eastern Florida State College/Jacksonville) allowed just one runs in 3.0 innings. Redshirt-sophomore Daniel Batcher (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins/State College of Florida) followed with 1.2 scoreless innings while redshirt-sophomore Dawson Place (Land O' Lakes, Fla./Sunlake HS/High Point) earned the win by throwing 2.0 innings.

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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 671-407-3 overall record (.623) and a 226-128 (.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.