Baseball Wins Slugfest To Claim ASUN South Division Title

 Despite giving up seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the FGCU baseball team (26-17, 12-6 ASUN) managed to secure a 14-11 win over Jacksonville in 10 innings on the road Sunday at John Sessions Field.
 
The Mother's Day victory allowed the Eagles to clinch the ASUN's South Division title outright, which gives them the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament quarterfinals, where they will host No. 4 Jacksonville May 21-23 in Swanson Stadium. Prior to that, though, FGCU will conclude the regular season on Tuesday and Wednesday with a two-game series at No. 18 Florida State starting at 6:30 p.m. each day.

"Giving up seven runs in the ninth inning isn't ideal, but we managed to win the series and accomplish our mission of winning the division," FGCU head coach Dave Tollett said. "We have a tough series ahead of us against Florida State before we focus on the postseason."
 
In a wild game that featured 25 runs, 35 hits and nine errors, the Eagles won their second-straight series behind an offensive attack that featured three-hit performances from Brian Ellis (3-for-5, 2 R, HR, 3 BB), Richie Garcia (3-for-7, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) (3-for-6, 2 R, RBI, 2B). Stephen Wilmer also had a multi-hit attack by finishing 2-for-5 with two runs, a home run and four RBI.
 
On the mound, Gus Carter went the first 5 1/3, allowing three runs and striking out five. Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) allowed two hits and struck out two over 1 2/3 of relief while Najer Victor and Joey Mugavero allowed seven runs (four earned) over two innings before Hunter McGarry (W, 2-3) got the victory by allowing one run and striking out two over the final 1 1/3.
 
Jacksonville got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, but the Eagles responded quickly with a leadoff homer from Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and an RBI single from Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) the next half inning. The Dolphins then tied it up with a solo homer of their own as the game moved to the fourth.
 
A two-run double from Wilmer along with a couple Jacksonville errors in the fourth helped the Eagles to take a 6-2 lead. The hosts got one back in the sixth, but Wilmer struck again with a two-run shot to left center in the eight. Then, FGCU got a pair of key insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI single from Johnny Long (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and an RBI groundout from Garcia for a 10-3 lead.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Jacksonville scored seven runs off the FGCU trio of Victor, Mugavero and McGarry, but stranded a pair of runners with a chance to win the game.
 
The Eagles offense quickly bounced back, loading the bases on a walk, hit batter and infield single. After a putout at home, Alejandro Rodriguez delivered what turned out to be the game-winning, two-run double down the left field line. Garcia added an RBI single through the right side and a fielding error provided two more runs.
 
Jacksonville tried to rally in the home half but was only able to manage one run on a two-out double.
 
Notes
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) extended his hitting streak to nine straight while pushing his stretch of consecutive games reaching base to 18. Garcia's hitting streak is at six. Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) walked twice to extend his streak of reaching to 15 straight.
 
Ellis produced his 21st multi-hit game of the season, which leads the team while Wilmer's multi-hit effort was his 10th of the season - giving FGCU eight players with at least 10 such games this year.

ASUN Standings

South Division
School    ASUN    Overall
#1 FGCU    12-6    26-17
#2 North Florida    11-7    18-20
#3 Stetson    10-8    24-20
#4 Jacksonville    3-15    10-30
North Division
School    ASUN    Overall
#1 Liberty    17-1    33-11
#2 Kennesaw State    12-6    26-17
#3 Lipscomb    8-13    17-25
#4 Bellarmine    8-16    13-30
North Alabama    6-15    7-37
Friday Results
Lipscomb 5, Bellarmine 3
Liberty 4, Kennesaw State 0
North Florida 6, Stetson 5
Jacksonville 5, FGCU 2
Louisiana 11, North Alabama 1
 
Saturday Results
Lipscomb 9, Bellarmine 8
North Florida 5, Stetson 3
Bellarmine 10, Lipscomb 4
Liberty 6, Kennesaw State 5
Louisiana 5, North Alabama 2
FGCU 7, Jacksonville 5
 
Sunday Results
Liberty 4, Kennesaw State 1
Stetson 5, North Florida 4
FGCU 14, Jacksonville 11 (10 inn.)
Louisiana 13, North Alabama 3
 
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 634-382-3 overall record (.624) and a 211-115 (.647) record in the ASUN. He is the only head coach in the program's history and led the program to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017. He is a five-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to five ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as No. 9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 54 all-conference selections, 33 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 13 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, three ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one seven-time MLB All-Star.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 40 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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