FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU turned a North Florida error in the fifth inning into the winning run and
Javier Gorostola hit a home run in the sixth to add some insurance as the Eagles evened the series Saturday afternoon over North Florida. The 5-3 win for FGCU was played in front of 766 fans at Swanson Stadium, with all of them witnessing nine innings of back-and-forth battles.
The Eagles (25-16, 9-10 Atlantic Sun) scored five run on 10 hits against the Ospreys (24-18, 15-5), who committed three errors for the second consecutive game. After pushing ahead 5-3 in the sixth, FGCU then held on by retiring 12 of the final 15 UNF batters in a 5-3 win.
To secure the win, FGCU had to utilize different styles of play. In the fifth inning with the game tied 3-3,
Jaret Nelson reached on an error, moved to third on a
Cayden Hessemyer double and eventually scored on a Drew Seidel sacrifice fly.
Javier Gorostola then went about adding a run in a very different manner, smashing a 1-2 pitch 374 feet beyond the right field fence to add an insurance run. That marks his 13
th home run of the season, matching teammate
Jon Embury for the second-most among ASUN players.
Then the combination of
Mattox Meeks and Sebastian Lippman (2) orchestrated the rest. Meeks delivered a scoreless three innings, striking out two, while Lippman earned his second save of the year with a near shutdown ninth, allowing only a walk.
But the game almost slipped away. With one out and one on in the ninth, North Florida's Matthew Farner hit a shot down the right field line that bounced off the Eagles' dugout at the FGCU Softball Complex, but the ball was ruled foul and determined foul after a meeting of the umpires and a long discussion with the UNF coaching staff.
Dave Tollett reflected on the Eagles' tense 5–3 victory over UNF at Swanson Stadium, acknowledging the challenging nature of the win. "That was a close one, right? Thank God the wind was pushing that way or, or we probably would still been playing, but, we'll take the win? It was a hard-fought win," Tollett said.
Another one of the game's pivotal moments came when Meeks escaped a jam with runners on second and third and no outs, maintaining the lead.
"He [Meeks] got out of a big situation," Tollett explained. "Runners on second and third, nobody out, and in a 5-3 ballgame, got out of that with nothing. I mean, that's really, really good," Tollett noted.
Chris Diaz (4-1) was credited with the win, recording eight strikeouts over five innings, allowing just three runs on seven this and walking two. For UNF, Kai Etwaru (0-2) was charged with the loss after giving up one run on three hits while striking out five. Etwaru replaced starter Ryan Furey, who did not reach a decision after allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits in four innings of work.
In the second inning, the Eagles' offense came alive with Merrick Rapoza singling to center field, followed by
Jeremy Comer's single, advancing Rapoza to third. Seidel then bunted for an RBI single, bringing Rapoza home. Comer and Seidel both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Juan Santos, and Dempsey's RBI groundout allowed Comer to score. Gorostola's single up the middle brought Seidel home, giving the Eagles a 3–0 lead after two innings.
The Ospreys responded in the third inning with three runs, including RBI singles by Gialdri Gomez, Carter White, and Benjamin, leveling the score at 3–3.
In the fifth inning, Florida Gulf Coast pulled ahead again with Nelson scoring followed by Gorostola's home run in the sixth. This gave Florida Gulf Coast a 5–3 advantage through six innings, one they would not give up.
FGCU tries to take the series from the divisional-leading Ospreys in the rubber game of the three-game series, set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Swanson Stadium.
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Game Notes:
- Florida Gulf Coast now leads the all-time series over UNF, 40–33. Saturday's win moves the Eagles to 18–15 when playing the Ospreys at home.
- Evan Dempsey recorded the 33rd stolen base of his career. That ranks him seventh in program history and one swipe shy of matching Jalen Townsend (2019–23) for sixth.
- Dempsey is now 33–35 in stolen bases in his career. That .943 stolen base percentage is the best in program history. Jalen Townsend's .895 mark trails Dempsey.
- FGCU head coach Dave Tollet recorded his 799th career win as a head coach.
- The crowd of 766 marked the largest Saturday crowd of the year so far at Swanson Stadium and the second-largest crowd to watch an FGCU-North Florida game.
- Team - Reached at least 12 pitching strikeouts swinging for the third consecutive game.
- Drew Seidel - Recorded a season-high total of 2 runs batted in.
- Mattox Meeks - Registered a season-high total of 4 ground outs.
- Mattox Meeks - Matched his career-long appearance of 3 innings.
