FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The duo of freshman
Justin Henschel (
Plantation, Fla./South Plantation HS) and senior
LJ McDonough (
Blanchard, Okla./Blanchard HS/Wichita State) slammed the door on the mound while the top of the lineup did its thing Sunday afternoon as the No. 20 FGCU baseball team (16-4, 2-1 ASUN) produced a 7-2 victory over Liberty (8-11, 1-2 ASUN) inside Swanson Stadium.
With the victory, the Eagles secured the series over the Flames for the first time since 2019 and improved to 10-1 at home this year. FGCU will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against South Florida.
"All around, I think we played the best we've played in probably seven games," said FGCU head baseball coach
Dave Tollett. "I think it starts with (Brian) Ellis. First play of the game, (he's) hustling down there doing what he does. The top of our order had six hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. They were on base a lot. It was really good to see."
The top of FGCU's lineup -- redshirt senior
Brian Ellis (
Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS), sophomore
Harrison Povey (
Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) and senior
Alejandro Figueredo (
Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) -- combined to hit 6-for-12 with five runs, three RBIs, two walks and a hit by pitch.
Each of them had two hits, the first of which came when Ellis beat out a routine ground ball to second base to open the home half of the first. Povey followed with an RBI double, and sophomore
Edrick Felix (
Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) knocked him home with a run-scoring single to left four batters later to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead through one.
FGCU's starter, Henschel, then stranded a pair of Liberty runners over the next three innings to set up a big fourth for his offense.
After a hit batter, a single and a walk loaded the bases with one out, Figueredo laced a two-run single through the left side to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead. Two batters and one pitcher later, senior
Alejandro Rodriguez (
Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) singled up the middle as FGCU took a four-run lead.
After allowing a solo home run in the fifth, Henschel nearly got out of a jam in the sixth, but a pair of walks with two outs loaded the bases, forcing a pitching change from Tollett -- who turned to McDonough. The Wichita State transfer proceeded to strike out Liberty's Brayden Horton as the Eagles kept a 5-2 lead.
The Green & Blue continued the momentum in the home half behind some shaky defense from Liberty, as FGCU tallied a pair of runs over back-to-back plate appearances with two outs, helping to push the lead to five.
McDonough allowed the first two runners to reach on singles in the seventh, but a fielder's choice and a pair of strikeouts ended the threat. After a 1-2-3 eighth, the righty allowed a two-out double in the ninth, but the runner was thrown out at third attempting to stretch it to a triple for the game's final out.
"We got the best start of the year out of any of our starters … by a freshman," Tollett said. "I thought he was good. He threw strikes. He kept attacking the zone. Then, we turn to LJ, who has been really, really special. He's a difference maker."
Henschel (2-0) picked up the victory after allowing four hits and four walks with two strikeouts of 5.2+ innings. McDonough tallied his fifth save after striking out five over 3.1 innings. He allowed just four hits and didn't have any walks.
Ellis, who reached base in four of five plate appearances on Sunday, has now reached base in 89 consecutive games, which is 12 shy of matching an unofficial NCAA record held by Mark Payton of Texas over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
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INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
Tickets for the 2023 FGCU baseball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach
Dave Tollett currently owns a 687-412-3 overall record (.624) and a 230-118 (.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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