Big Third Inning Propels #12 Miami Past Baseball
FORT MYERS, Fla. – A 10-run third inning by Miami vaulted the 12th-ranked Hurricanes to an 11-7 victory over the FGCU baseball team, Wednesday evening at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles fall to 18-7 on the season while Miami improves to 18-6.
“We played eight innings tonight, we didn’t play nine,” said head coach Dave Tollett. “We’ve got to have somebody to come in and stop the bleeding. In the end, that’s my fault, I made the wrong call, I should have gone with somebody else so I will wear that. Miami is really good, they are different than in the past, but still a really good team.”
Junior Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) and freshman Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) each went 4-for-4 on the night with Figueredo scoring all four times while Povey drove in three runs. Redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) added two hits including his fourth home run of the season.
After the Hurricanes ran themselves out of the first inning by making all three outs on the basepaths, the Eagles took the lead in the home half as Povey delivered a two-run single.
Sophomore Mason Miller (Odessa, Fla./Mitchell HS) got through the second unscathed, but the Hurricanes got to him and a couple of Eagle relievers for 10 runs on 10 hits and a couple of FGCU errors.
The Eagles kept fighting as they scored a run in each of the next three innings to get back withing five at 10-5. After Miami tacked on a run in the seventh, the Eagles responded with two runs in the eighth to cut the Hurricane lead to four.
Junior Darien Smith (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian HS/Eastern Florida State College/Jacksonville), sophomore Connor O’Hara (Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), and senior Gus Carter (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State) kept the Eagles in the game, combining to throw the final 5.1 innings while allowing just one unearned run and striking out five.
However, the deficit proved to be too big for FGCU as they could not muster any threat in the ninth, going down in order.
The Eagles will have to shake this game off and prepare for a big weekend ahead as Kennesaw State comes to town. The Owls are currently 6-0 in the ASUN, one game ahead of the Eagles in the standings. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 654-392-3 overall record (.623) and a 216-116 (.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 58 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 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
