FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team dropped a rain-shortened season finale Saturday vs. Kennesaw State, losing 13-8 on Senior Day in seven innings at Swanson Stadium.
FGCU capped a historic regular season with a 38-17 overall record and a 20-10 mark in league play heading into the ASUN Championship – which is set for May 23-27 in DeLand, Fla. Despite losing just its third ASUN series of the year, FGCU can earn as high as the No. 2 seed. Lipscomb clinched the regular season title outright Friday.
"You win some, you lose some and some are rained out," said FGCU baseball head coach Dave Tollett. "On to the ASUN Tournament."
Kennesaw State began the day right where it left off Friday, punching the Eagles in the mouth early. FGCU surrendered two-run home runs in both the first and third innings.
Senior infielder Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) returned the favor against the Owls with a solo shot in the second. Senior designated hitter Joe Kinker's (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) third-inning RBI double narrowed FGCU's deficit to 4-2.
The Eagles continued to battle and grabbed the lead in fourth. Redshirt sophomore infielder Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) smacked an RBI single to right to make it 4-3. Kinker's second double of the day later in the same inning drove home the tying and go-ahead run, giving FGCU a short-lived 5-4 lead.
KSU reclaimed a one-run advantage in the next half inning, but Green & Blue would knot the game 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth via a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidras, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State)
The Owls responded with a vengenace, scoring seven unanswered runs to take a commanding 13-6 lead through 7½ innings of play.
Sophomore outfielder Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) later joined the Senior Day home run party, sending a two-run shot deep to center before Mother Nature paid a visit to Swanson Stadium in the eighth to squelch the spark.
Povey's homer marked the nation-leading 125th home run recorded by the Eagles this season.
After a lengthy delay and an effort to get the Swanson Stadium playing surface playable to finish out the game, the contest was officially called. Since the eighth inning was not completed by both teams, the game reverted back to the last completed inning -- the seventh.
Three seniors produced a hit Saturday: Kinker, Figueredo and Rodriguez each had two hits. Kinker finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Senior Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) was credited with the loss for FGCU.
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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 709-425-3 overall record (.625) and a 248-140 (.642) 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 98 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 49 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 3.57 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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