FGCU-Lipscomb box score | ASUN Postseason HQ | 2023 FGCU baseball stats | 2023 FGCU schedule
 
DeLAND, Fla. – FGCU sophomore outfielder Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to get a hit in the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship Tournament.

Until the ninth inning Thursday, that is.
 
Povey launched a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and the second-seeded Eagles held off a dramatic Lipscomb rally in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 6-5 victory over the top-seeded Bisons at Melching Field at Conrad Park.
 
The victory improved FGCU to 40-17 – making the 2023 Eagles just the fourth team in program history with at least 40 wins in a single season – and locked up a spot in Saturday's ASUN Championship semifinals. The loss dropped Lipscomb, the regular season champions – to 33-24.
 
"It doesn't matter who it is, because it is someone different every game," said FGCU head baseball coach Dave Tollett. "That's what makes this special, what makes this team a special team. … It was a big win for us, because it gets us to Saturday. Now we have got a shot."
 
Povey's homer was his first of his seven at-bats in the championship, and capped a furious four-run FGCU rally in the ninth. Redshirt sophomore infielder Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) led off with an opposite-field single, and graduate outfielder Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) followed with an infield single. That brought up ASUN Player of the Year sophomore infielder Edrick Felix (Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida), who took an 0-1 fastball off the chin and ended up bleeding in the dirt outside the batter's box.
 
Felix was immediately tended to, but insisted on staying in the game – getting patched up in the Eagles dugout before taking first base on a painful hit-by-pitch to load the bases. That free 90 feet was pivotal, as senior designated hitter Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) lofted the first pitch he saw to left field for a sacrifice fly to tie it 3-3.
 
"My chin is OK. So what, I got hit? I just wanted to keep playing baseball," Felix said. "I wanted to be on base, to score, and us to win this game. I had to do my job, which I did by getting hit. Me getting hit ended up being an extra run, which we needed. Anything to win."
 
"Felix is tough. We are all tough," Tollett said. "That is our makeup."
 
Three batters and two outs later, Povey stepped in to try to get on for the first time this week in DeLand.
 
"I didn't have a hit all tournament, and Brian told me in the outfield to just flush it – because my next at-bat would likely be a big one," Povey said. "I got down to two strikes, and got a slider that I connected on pretty good. That was a big swing, probably the biggest swing so far of my life."
 
"He got the pitch he wanted, a breaking ball down, to put in play," Tollett said. "Some wind might have helped it. But we are just trying to make contact in that situation."
 
Povey's three-run shot to right made it 6-3 – a cushion FGCU would need in the bottom of the ninth. The Bisons loaded the bases on redshirt sophomore reliever Connor O'Hara (Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), and scored twice via a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice ground ball to second. But O'Hara staved off the threat by forcing another groundout to end the game.
 
FGCU fell behind 3-0 when Lipscomb touched Eagles senior starter Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) in the second inning. Tollett called on junior William Haberstock (Roswell, Ga./Centennial HS/North Alabama), who allowed just one hit over the next five innings of work to mute the Bisons.
 
"Hats off to Will Haberstock," Tollett said. "After Will came in, we just gave up one hit and it gave our offense a chance to get going."
 
The Green & Blue finally began solving Lipscomb in the sixth, as senior catcher/infielder Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) hit a bases-loaded line drive that ricocheted off the chest of Bisons starter Alex Brewer to score Kinker from third to make it 3-1.
 
Kole then made it 3-2 with one swing in the seventh, launching his second solo homer in as many days to left field. Kole and Povey's homers increased FGCU's nation-leading home run count to 131. Kole and senior first baseman Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) each finished with two of FGCU's eight hits.
 
Junior reliever Alejandro Valiente (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/FSW/Bethune-Cookman) earned the victory with a flawless eighth inning of work. Lipscomb's Ethan Smith absorbed the loss.
 
The Eagles finish Pool A play at 2:30 p.m. Friday, taking on third-seeded Liberty. The Green & Blue does not need to win the game against the Flames to advance to the semifinals, though doing so would lock up a spot against the No. 1 qualifier coming out of Pool B – which consists of Stetson, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Austin Peay.
 
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at http://www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting http://www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
COACH TOLLETT
Coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 711-425-3 overall record (.626) and a 248-140 (.639) 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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---