FORT MYERS, Fla. --- Redshirt senior
Brian Ellis (
Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and senior
Alejandro Figueredo (
Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) combined to hit 8-for-9 with three home runs Saturday as the No. 20 FGCU baseball team (15-4, 1-1 ASUN) came from behind to defeat Liberty (8-10, 1-1) 11-8 inside Swanson Stadium.
With the victory, the Eagles evened up the series with the ASUN's preseason favorite. The win also snapped a four-game Flames winning streak by the Flames, who had also won four in a row against FGCU in the all-time series. On top of that, the Green & Blue improved to 9-1 at home this year.
"It was a great offensive day for Ellis, Figgy and Felix. It's one of those performances that you'll remember as a coach for a while," said FGCU head baseball coach
Dave Tollett. "(On the mound), we got a good start from (Mason) Miller. He was pretty good once he settled in, gave us some length. Our bullpen still has to do a better job of attacking the zone when we're ahead. Overall, it was a good win."
In addition to Ellis (4-for-5) and Figueredo (4-for-4), who combined to produce five runs and eight RBIs, sophomore
Edrick Felix (
Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) went 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Sophomore
Jake Mummau (
Palm Harbor, Fla./Palm Harbor University HS/St. Petersburg College) went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI, as well.
Junior lefty
Mason Miller (
Odessa, Fla./Mitchell HS) went the first four innings for the Eagles, striking out five while allowing three runs (one earned), four hits and four walks. Two of the three runs Liberty scored in the first inning off of him were unearned. Overall, he faced 16 batters.
After the Flames jumped out to a three-run lead to open the game, Figueredo answered with a solo home run to left center in the bottom half. Felix added a solo blast of his own the next inning before Figueredo slammed a three-run shot to center in the third to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead.
In the fourth, an RBI single from Ellis pushed the lead to three, and then Figueredo nearly hit a third home run, but settled for a line-drive RBI double off the left-field wall for a 7-3 lead through four.
After Liberty got one back with a solo home run, Mummau tacked on an RBI single, and Ellis followed with a two-run home run to deep right field for an 11-4 lead through five.
Although Liberty scored four runs over the next two innings, redshirt sophomore
Connor O'Hara (
Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) held the Flames scoreless in the eighth. Then, after a leadoff double in the ninth, senior
LJ McDonough (
Blanchard, Okla./Blanchard HS/Wichita State) entered for O'Hara and proceeded to strand the runner at third while striking out one to produce his fourth save of the season.
Graduate
Max Rippl (
Fort Myers, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy/Kent State) earned the win in relief, improving to 2-0 after allowing three hits, three runs and three walks over 1.1 innings. O'Hara's final line included 2.2 innings, four hits, two runs, a walk and a strikeout.
Defensively, senior catcher
Alejandro Rodriguez (
Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) threw out a pair of Liberty runners at second base attempting to steal.
With his performance, Ellis has reached base in 88 consecutive games, which is 13 shy of matching an unofficial NCAA record held by Mark Payton of Texas over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Gallery: (3-18-2023) Baseball vs Liberty
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach
Dave Tollett currently owns a 686-412-3 overall record (.624) and a 229-118 (.659) 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 63 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, two National Freshman All-Americans, 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 23 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. 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.
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