Harrison Povey had three RBI and
Lucas Hartman had four scoreless innings of relief to close the game as Florida Gulf Coast defeated the University of North Florida 8-4 Friday night in Jacksonville, Fla., clinching an Atlantic Sun Conference baseball series.
The Eagles (28-24, 19-10 ASUN) have now won four games in a row for the second time this season, moving to a season-best four games over the .500 mark. The win also keeps the Eagles in a tie for second in the ASUN standings with one game to go.
FGCU trailed 1-0 after an inning, but Povey and
Trevor Kole had back-to-back RBI doubles to put the Green & Blue ahead 2-1 in the second. UNF would answer with a pair in the home half of the inning to lead, 3-2, but the Eagles responded again in the fourth. With two men on, Povey delivered a triple down the line in right, scoring
Robert Moya and
Jacob Lojewski to give the Eagles the 4-3 lead. Again, UNF would respond with a run in the home half to tie the game at 4-all.
In the fifth, FGCU took the lead for good. With runners on second and third,
Robert Moya sent a fly ball to the warning track to center. The sacrifice fly would be enough to score
Mac Moise and give the Eagles a 5-4 lead.
An inning later, the Eagles would put the game out of reach of the Ospreys (21-29-1, 11-16-1 ASUN). With two men on,
Ian Farrow's rocket into the gap in left center went all the way to the wall. Povey and Moise would motor home to score, with Farrow heading to third on the throw to the plate. After
Evan Dempsey was plunked, the freshman took off for second. The throw down to third as a back pick on Farrow would bounce down the left field line instead and Farrow would trot home with FGCU's eighth and final run of the game.
Cameron Bye (3-0) went five solid innings, allowing three earned runs with six strikeouts. He would give way to Hartman, who was nearly untouchable over his four innings. Hartman allowed a hit in the ninth inning but did not allow a walk and struck out six in picking up his first save of the campaign.
Moise, Moya, and Povey each scored two runs in the game. For Moya, he has now scored 10 runs and driven in eight over his last three games.
FGCU will close out the regular season while also looking for a sweep Saturday at 1 p.m.
