DELAND, Fla. – Fortune smiled on Ryan Rushing Friday afternoon. Rushing – who took the mound after a nearly six-hour rain delay - overcame two errors, tense situations and even a screaming line drive straight at his head. In doing so, he recorded a career-high six strikeouts in a 3-1 win over top-seeded North Florida (31-24) in an elimination game at the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
That performance by Rushing (3-1) set up the heroics of
Wilfred Gonzalez, who hit his first career game-winning RBI in the form of a two-run home run in the top of the eighth. That broke a 1-1 tie and advanced the Eagles (36-21) to the elimination bracket final of the league's postseason event.
Rushing escaped a scary moment when a line drive that came off the bat of Carter White at 107 miles per hour grazed the bill of his cap and sent Rushing to the ground immediately. After a brief delay and evaluation, Rushing was able to continue, getting Matthew Farner to strikeout looking two batters later to end the inning and stranding White on base. That would be one of 16 Osprey runners that were stranded on base with UNF's only run scored in the game being unearned.
In the next half inning
Javier Gorostola reached on a leadoff single. One flyout later, Gonzalez crushed a pitch 355 feet to left for his second career home run. That pushed FGCU's lead out to 3-1, a lead the Eagles would not relinquish.
Hyatt Richardson (1) recorded his first career save after entering in the bottom of the eighth, giving up only one hit while facing six batters.
John Costa (1-3) was charged with the loss after allowing all three of FGCU's runs on two hits while issuing no walks and striking out four in his 2 1/3 inning performance.
All of this came after a weather delay of 5:48 turned a morning game (that began at 10 a.m.) into an afternoon contest that ended with the sun beginning to set over Melching Field. It marked the third rain delay in as many days that FGCU has had to face this week.
That delay interrupted what was originally a pitching duel between FGCU's
Hunter Possehl and North Florida's Trevor Nikolas. Neither starter allowed a run and they recorded three strikeouts each with Nikolas going five innings and Possehl throwing for four before inclement weather halted the game.
After play resumed just past 5:30 p.m. and Rushing delivered three consecutive strikeouts to end the fifth inning,
Jaret Nelson reached on a hit by pitch as he led off the sixth inning. Two strikeouts later,
Cayden Hessemyer hit a routine ground ball to short, but a throwing error by Farner allowed Hessemyer to reach second and Nelson to score, breaking open a scoreless game.
North Florida responded in the bottom half of the inning by taking advantage of two errors by the Green & Blue, allowing Jackson Schrafft to score after reaching on a leadoff single.
Florida Gulf Coast will next play on Saturday, May 23 at 9:30 a.m. against the loser of the winner's bracket final between No. 2 seed Lipscomb and No. 4 seed North Alabama, while the winner will advance to the championship game.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on FGCU Baseball, follow the Eagles on
Instagram,
X (Twitter) and
Facebook, and visit
FGCUathletics.com.
