FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jaret Nelson provided a late spark with a 409-foot grand slam, Evan Dempsey tied a school record by scoring six runs and FGCU once again enthralled fans with an extra-inning walk-off win over North Dakota State, this time in a 19-18 (11 inn.) decision Saturday night.

For the Eagles (2-0), they needed all 19 of those runs to battle back from a 17-12 deficit in the eighth inning. It was mostly thanks to the big bat of Nelson, whose grand slam was a key part of his 4-for-7 day at the plate with a career-high seven RBIs. Facing bases loaded with one out in the eighth, Nelson sent an 0-1 count 409 feet to deep left to pull FGCU within one, 17-16.

"I've seen some big hits in this program, but that put us right back in it," FGCU head coach Dave Tollett said of Nelson's grand slam. "I mean, holy cow, it's a big knock, like I said, I've seen a lot of big ones. That's one of the biggest I've seen here."

After North Dakota State (0-2) added one with a solo home run in the ninth, Javier Gorostola played hero yet again. A day after delivering the game-winning hit, the Eagles designated hitter tied the game with a two-out double in the ninth to score Nathan Gagnon and Dempsey.

"He's a great hitter," Tollett said of Gorostola. "He just really is, and he doesn't get a lot of pitches to hit. He's had to learn over the years to really hit breaking balls because that's what he's going to get. Javier has developed into one of the best hitters I've coached here at Florida Gulf Coast."

Dempsey then scored the winning run – and tied a school record by crossing the plate for the sixth time in the game – in the 11^th when Cole Lasher delivered a pinch-hit walkoff single to left center.
 
Ryan Rushing (1-0) was credited with the win and was one of eight pitchers for FGCU that combined for a school-record 21 strikeouts in the game. Matt Sargeant (0-1) was charged with the loss after 1 1/3 innings of work.

In all, the Eagles needed 20 hits to score their 19 runs, but let 14 runners stranded, causing the need for late-inning dramatics. FGCU batters were hit a total of seven times by Bison pitchers and drew eight walks. North Dakota State scored 18 runs on just 11 hits, taking advantage of 11 walks issued by Eagles pitchers. All of this came just a day after the teams combined for three runs and eight hits over 10 innings in the season opener.

"I've never been in two games like this that have been just total opposites," Tollett recollected. "But I tell you, it's shown me a lot about these guys."

FGCU looks to sweep the Bison on Sunday when the third and final game of the series begins at 1 p.m.

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Game Notes

• FGCU is now 53-30-1 (.637) all-time in extra-inning games.
• This marks the first time since 2016 and just the fourth time overall that FGCU has played back-to-back extra-inning games.
• FGCU's pitching staff struck out a school record 21 batters in the game.
• The 37 combined runs scored Saturday are the third-most in FGCU history.
• The Eagles were hit by a pitch seven times in the game, matching the third-most in program history.
• Evan Dempsey tied a school record by scoring six runs in the game.

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