DeLAND, Fla. - A day of baseball that started at 12:05 p.m. ended over 12 hours later with Florida Gulf Coast University advancing to the final day of the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship as the Eagles defeated Jacksonville 4-2 and Austin Peay 6-3 in a pair of win-or-go-home games Saturday at Melching Park.
"They stayed focused," said FGCU head coach
Dave Tollett. "They stayed focused through the rain delay and got it done against a good rival in Jacksonville. Then we've been here a long time, but what a great performance by a freshman.
Logan Baisley was phenomenal and then
Leo Giannoni came in. We played solid defense and had one of the biggest innings this team has had. We get to play on Championship Sunday."
Game One: FGCU 4, Jacksonville 2
Thanks to a rain delay of over five hours, the Eagles played their longest game by time of the season in the first game of the day; however, it proved to be wirth the wait as FGCU pulled out a 4-2 victory over the Dolphins.
The Eagles would take advantage of an error to start the third by JU to take a 2-0 lead. After
Jake McKee reached via an error,
Evan Dempsey walked to set the table for
Jaret Nelson. The junior would come through with an RBI single to right, plating McKee for the first run. Three batters later,
Cayden Hessemyer would double to score Dempsey and double the FGCU lead.
Jacksonville would score a run in the third, but
Ryland Bozenhard would come on in relief of
Chase Kriebel to finish the inning and begin would would be a five inning outing. Bozenhard would allow a seventh inning run and three hits but helped FGCU maintain the lead.
The Eagles would extend their lead with a pair of runs in the sixth. With
Jon Embury on base,
Tyler Herb would hit a tailing fly ball that got past the diving left fielder and rolled all the way to the wall. Embury scored and Herb had a triple to make it 3-1. One pitch later,
Mac Moise lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score the final run of the game for FGCU.
The Dolphins scored in the seventh and had a man on in the eighth when lightning was detected in the area and the teams would be pulled from the field. The game would start back at 8:15 p.m. with both teams in new uniforms, but FGCU still in the driver's seat.
Ashton Pocol would strike out the first two batters he faced to end the eighth, then retired the side in the ninth to record the save and give the Eagles the victory.
Game Two: FGCU 6, Austin Peay 3
A dazzling pitching display by
Logan Baisley was followed by three near-perfect innings from
Leo Giannoni as the Eagles knocked off the champions of the ASUN Gold Division, 6-3.
The Eagles took the lead in the fifth with five runs. With runners on the corners, Dempsey beat out a would-be double play ball to drive in a run and tie the game, 2-2. Two batters later,
Robert Moya drove in his second run of the game as his single to right plated Dempsey to make it 3-2.
Harrison Povey would then connect on his 17th homer of the season - a towering drive to center that was 108 mph off the bat to give the Eagles a 5-2 advantage. The Eagles weren't done though as back-to-back walks led to
Jon Embury's ground rule double that hopped over the wall in left, giving the Eagles a 6-2 lead.
A homer would pull APSU closer in the sixth, but that would be the last run the Govs would score.
Leo Giannoni would allow just one base runner over his three innings of relief, striking out three to earn his third save of the year as the Eagles took down Austin Peay.
FGCU will take on Stetson University Sunday at noon. If the Eagles win that game, a winner-take-all championship game will follow approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion.
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