FORT MYERS, Fla. -
Chase Kriebel pitched the first complete game for a Florida Gulf Coast University hurler in almost two years as the Eagles defeated the University of Central Arkansas 3-2 to sweep an Atlantic Sun Conference baseball series Sunday afternoon.
"It's been a while since we've had a complete game, and my gosh, he was really good," said FGCU head coach
Dave Tollett. "He was really special today. He threw the ball all over the zone. No walks over nine innings. When we got him the lead, he was like a bulldog man. You don't see complete games in college baseball and you don't see them with 90 pitches thrown."
UCA took a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the three runs FGCU (15-14, 8-4 ASUN) got in the third inning would be all it would need.
Charles Davalan led off the inning with a double and scored one batter later on a single to right from
Robert Moya. Two pitches later,
Jacob Lojewski connected for a two-run blast to left center to give the Eagles all the runs they would need with Kriebel on the mound.
"I thought we would need more than that on a Sunday, but we had Chase," Coach Tollett said. "We're up 3-2 but they way they came out [and scored], and you think it's going to be a normal Sunday game."
Instead, from the third inning onward, Kriebel would face no more than four batters in an inning. Kriebel's defense would help along the way, turning double plays in the sixth and eighth innings to keep the Bears (13-18, 4-8 ASUN) at bay. Kriebel would retire the side in order in the ninth as the Eagles picked up the victory and the sweep in the series.
"It was a great sweep for us," Coach Tollett added. "We needed it. We'll take it, but I'll tell you, hats off to Central Arkansas. These three games were so close, we could have gotten swept. We could have won two of three or lost two of three. These are two very evenly-matched teams."
The three games were decided by a total of four runs. UCA out-hit the Eagles 27-25 for the series and had the lead going to the bottom of the seventh in the first two games. FGCU struck out two more batters over the series than UCA (24-22).
The Eagles are currently scheduled to face Florida International University this Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium.
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