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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 15th-ranked FGCU baseball team (25-6 overall, 9-2 ASUN) earned another ASUN Conference series victory Thursday, slugging 10 home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Queens (N.C.)
The Eagles won the first game of the series – and day – 14-11, and then claimed the second game 11-5 at The Stick Williams Dream Fields. The series finale is set for 5 p.m. Friday.
FGCU belted six home runs in the first game, and four more in the second. That gives the Green & Blue 75 homers through 31 games – a 2.4-per-game clip. FGCU entered the Queens series second in the nation to South Carolina (72) for home runs.
Junior infielder/pitcher
Jacob Lojewski (
West Palm Beach, Fla./Delray American Heritage HS) and senior outfielder
Stephen Wilmer (
Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/Pasco-Hernando State/ECU) each had three home runs in the doubleheader. Senior designated hitter
Joe Kinker (
North Port, Fla./Venice HS) hit two homers, and both senior infielder
Alejandro Figueredo (
Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) and junior infielder
Edrick Felix (
Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) each added homers.
"What a great offensive day for us. To hit 10 in one day is just impressive to watch, not less be their coach," said FGCU head baseball coach
Dave Tollett. "And what is so good about this, and it's a huge part of our success, that anyone 1 through 9 can do damage. If one of our guys is struggling a bit, it seems like someone is always there to pick that guy up."
Eagles redshirt senior outfielder
Brian Ellis (
Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) eclipsed the 100-consecutive-game plateau of reaching base safely Thursday, going 1-for-3 with three walks in the opener and then going 2-for-4 with a walk in the second game. Ellis can tie the unofficial NCAA record for consecutive games reaching base which is 101 by former Texas standout Mark Payton from 2013-14, in Friday's series finale.
FGCU overpowered Queens (6-25, 2-9) early and often in the opener – as both Kinker and Lojewski went deep twice, Figueredo cranked a grand slam, and Wilmer added a solo shot.
Kinker's two-run blast in the first helped FGCU establish a 3-0 lead, and Wilmer's homer made it 4-2 in the second. Lojewski smacked a solo shot in the third, and Figueredo followed later in the inning with his first grand slam of the season for a 9-4 advantage.
FGCU added two runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly and a groundout, but the fireworks continued in the seventh – as Kinker ripped a solo shot and Lojewski added a two-run homer for a 14-7 lead. Redshirt sophomore
Connor O'Hara (
Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) earned the victory, and redshirt junior
Dawson Place (Land o' Lakes, Fla./Sunlake HS/High Point) earned the save.
Game two offered fewer fireworks, and more precipitation, than did the opener. Kinker's RBI single to left in the first inning gave the Eagles an early lead, but the Royals answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to grab a 4-1 lead. Wilmer's second homer of the day made it 4-2 in the top of the fifth, right before the skies opened up and caused a nearly four-hour weather delay.
The second game resumed at nearly 6 p.m., and so too did FGCU's offense. The Eagles grabbed a 5-4 lead in the sixth via a Felix double and a two-run Wilmer home run. But that was just prelude to the seventh – as the Green & Blue scored five runs for a comfortable advantage. Senior catcher/infielder
Alejandro Rodriguez (
Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) started the rally with a sacrifice fly, Felix followed with a two-run double down the left-field line, and Lojewski launched his third homer of the day to score Felix to make it 10-4.
Felix added the final exclamation point in the ninth, ripping a solo shot to left. Senior reliever
LJ McDonough (
Blanchard, Okla./Blanchard HS/Wichita State) scattered three hits, allowed a run and struck out five over 4 2/3 innings to earn the win.
FGCU expects to start freshman
Justin Henschel (
Plantation, Fla./South Plantation HS) Friday against Queens right-hander Zach Kelly.
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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 696-414-3 overall record (.627) and a 237-131 (.644) 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.
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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. 15 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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