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FORT MYERS, Fla. – A day after being largely muted up and down the lineup, the 16^th-ranked FGCU baseball team wanted to prove Saturday yet again that it is one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
 
Mission accomplished.
 
Junior infielder Edrick Felix (Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) hit two of FGCU's four home runs and drove in a career-high eight runs as the Eagles (22-5 overall, 6-2 ASUN Conference) dominated Jacksonville 14-4 in seven innings at Swanson Stadium.
 
The victory tied the pivotal conference series, with Sunday's 1 p.m. finale looming large for both teams – as Jacksonville (which won 4-2 Friday night) saw its six-game winning streak end by falling to 19-9 overall and 5-3 in league play. FGCU, which notched its fourth run-rule shortened victory of the season, has won eight of its last nine games.
 
Felix's monster afternoon ranks tied for fourth all time, tying junior infielder/pitcher Jacob Lojewski (West Palm Beach, Fla./Delray American Heritage HS) for the most RBIs by an FGCU player in a single game this season – and falling one short of the school record of nine RBIs held by three former Eagles.
 
"Those are special days, the way Felix was hitting the ball," said FGCU head baseball coach Dave Tollett. "I've been doing this a long time, and you don't see that much. Our 5-6-7 guys had nine hits for us, with four home runs in there. It was a great day on a bounce-back to even this series up."
 
FGCU pounded out 12 hits, seven of them extra-base hits. Felix finished 3-for-3, senior catcher/infielder Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) also was 3-for-3 with an RBI and four runs scored, and junior infielder/pitcher Jacob Lojewski (West Palm Beach, Fla./Delray American Heritage HS) was 3-for-4 with three RBIS and two runs scored.
 
FGCU redshirt senior outfielder Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) drew two walks – extending his school-record streak to 96 games. The unofficial NCAA record for consecutive games reaching base is 101, held by former Texas standout Mark Payton.
 
FGCU wasn't fazed by Jacksonville's Hogan McIntosh mashing one of his two homers in the first for an early 1-0 lead – as the Eagles promptly answered with a four-run first inning of their own. The Green & Blue loaded the bases on JU starter Richard Long (1-2), and Felix unloaded them with a double to right-center to make it 3-1. Lojewski followed by doubling in Felix for a 4-1 advantage.
 
Not to be unnoticed during the offensive onslaught, FGCU junior pitcher William Haberstock (Roswell, Ga./Centennial HS/North Alabama) came on cold in the second inning and delivered 4 2/3 quality innings of long relief to improve to 4-0.
 
Haberstock's 95-pitch effort also allowed Felix to just keep hitting – which he did in the third with a two-run homer to left that made it 6-1. But that was just prelude to FGCU's five-run outburst in the fifth – as Felix belted a three-run homer to left, and both Ellis and sophomore outfielder Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) drew bases-loaded walks for an 11-1 lead.
 
"(Haberstock) had six strikeouts and really good stuff," Tollett said. "He got a little tired there at the end, because he was in a place he hasn't been. He was a good matchup for a lot of their guys, so we knew we would use him at some point over the weekend. I was really, really happy with his performance – those were big, big zeroes when we needed them."
 
Even when Jacksonville dropped three runs on FGCU in the top of the sixth, the Eagles kept on pounding away – as Rodriguez hit just the second opposite-field homer of his Green & Blue career, and Lojewski ripped a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth to make it 14-4.
 
FGCU will send freshman right-hander Justin Henschel (Plantation, Fla. South Plantation HS) to the mound Sunday against Jacksonville right-hander Christian Graham.
 
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 www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
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 693-412-3 overall record (.626) and a 234-131 (.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 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 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 16 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 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 3.67 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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