FORT MYERS, Fla. -
Harrison Povey homered and
Jacob Lojewski drove in a pair of runs, but Florida Gulf Coast University couldn't rally all the way back after getting behind in the middle innings, falling to Xavier University 10-6 at Swanson Stadium Friday night.
The Eagles (3-6) trailed 2-0 in the third when Lojewski roped a single back up the middle with the bases loaded to score
Mac Moise and
Charles Davalan, tying the game. Xavier (5-4) scored three in the fifth and another run in the sixth to take a 6-2 advantage. The Green & Blue would respond in the home half of the sixth when Povey connected on a 2-1 offering for a solo homer to center, making it 6-3.
The Musketeers tacked on two more in the seventh, but the Eagles battled back with some two-out magic in the eighth thanks to some big hops and Xavier miscues. A shot down the first base line by
Armani Newton rolled into the corner in right, allowing Povey to score to make it 8-4. One batter later,
Dalton Robinson's hard liner towards first took a nasty hop and went into right for a base hit, plating Newton to make it 8-5. After a Musketeers error extended the inning another batter,
Charles Davalan hit a fly ball to left that was dropped, allowing Robinson to score for an 8-6 contest. An intentional walk would load the bases, but a ground out on the next pitch would end the threat.
Xavier would score twice in the ninth on a two-run homer to make it 10-6. FGCU would get two men on in the ninth, but none would score as the guests took the win in the series opener.
Luke Hoskins (2-1) earned the win for Xavier after allowing three runs in six innings of work.
Anthony Ursitti (0-1) took the loss for FGCU with five runs allowed in 4.2 innings. Jonathan Kelly earned a four-out save for Xavier.
The two teams will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. to continue the series.
