DeLAND, Fla. – A back-and-forth battle between two Graphite Division rivals came down to the final inning, but Florida Gulf Coast University fell 5-4 to Stetson University in the second round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship on Thursday at Melching Field.
Stetson (39-19) plated two runs in the third inning with only one ball leaving the infield — a sacrifice fly that brought in the second run. FGCU (27-29) began to chip away in the fourth. Harrison Povey launched a solo home run over the right-field wall to cut the Hatters' lead in half.
The Eagles tied the game in the fifth. After Jake McKee singled and Evan Dempsey doubled, Jaret Nelson drove a single to left to score McKee and even the score at 2-2.
FGCU took the lead in the sixth. Tyler Herb ripped a triple into the right-field corner, beating the Stetson shift. Mac Moise followed with a line drive off the third baseman's glove and into left for an RBI single, giving the Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
Stetson responded in the seventh. The Hatters manufactured a run with a single, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt and another single to tie it at 3-3. A groundout moved the go-ahead run to second, and back-to-back wild pitches allowed the run to score, putting Stetson ahead 4-3.
In the ninth with FGCU down to its final two outs, Dempsey — the Eagles' First Team All-ASUN starting pitcher — stepped in against Stetson's First Team All-ASUN reliever. The Tampa native crushed an 0-1 pitch 381 feet to right for a game-tying solo homer.
But Stetson had the final word. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, a double off the right-field wall just inside the foul line brought home the winning run, sealing a 5-4 victory for the Hatters.
All nine FGCU batters recorded a hit, led by McKee's three. Dempsey, Nelson and Povey each had two hits in the loss.
Chris Diaz pitched 6 2/3 innings for FGCU, allowing four runs on five hits with no walks. Ashton Pocol (1-2) took the loss, surrendering the winning run in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
The Eagles return to action Friday at 2 p.m. in the loser's bracket against Central Arkansas.
