After sweeping their last ASUN Conference series, FGCU looked to repeat that effort against the 17-31 Eastern Kentucky Colonels from May 10 to 12. The Colonels entered the weekend vying for one of the last spots in the postseason. The Eagles got the better of them by taking the series dominantly, winning two out of the three games.
The Eagles enter the weekend with positive momentum, having swept their previous conference series against the Jacksonville University Dolphins. This kept them in the hunt for the first seed, as they remained a game behind the Austin Peay State University Governors with a 17-10 conference record. They looked to stay in this position with a series win against the Colonels.
FGCU’s first game of the weekend was their most dominant game of the season, as they defeated the Colonels by 21-1. The Eagles scored in every single inning, with their most dominant scoring run stemming from the second and third innings, in which they accumulated 15 runs.
Eastern Kentucky’s only run came in at the top of the third inning. It was a passed run that was unearned for the Colonels.
The three largest contributors to the Eagles’ success during this game were senior catcher Mac Moise, freshman left fielder Evan Dempsey and redshirt junior second baseman Trevor Kole, who each brought home four RBIs. Dempsey, out of all three players, was the star of the game, going three for three at bat, walking twice and stealing two bases throughout the night.
“I feel like our team came out,” Dempsey said. “We had a good report on their pitcher and we stuck with our approach. All of our hitters and pitchers did their job today.”
The second game was the lowest-scoring game of the series, as the Colonels edged out the Eagles to win the series 2-1. Moise hit a double to center field, which allowed Kole to put FGCUs first and only run on the board at the bottom of the third inning.
Eastern Kentucky scored two runs in the latter half of the game, scoring one in the seventh and ninth innings. With this win, the pressure was on the Eagles to avoid repeating a statistic they are all too familiar with this season: dropping the two games of a series.
In four of the Eagles’ last seven conference series games, they have dropped two games. They looked to avoid repeating this feat after a dominant first game.
FGCU won the series’ final game by shutting out the Colonels. They began the game hot. Dempsey hit his fifth home run of the season, bringing himself and Moise to home plate for a 2-0 lead.
Freshman right fielder Charles Davalan followed that up with another home run to right field at the bottom of the third inning. This extended the lead to 3-0,.The momentum was with the Eagles.
FGCU scored two more runs in the seventh inning to win the game 5-0. This marked their second conference series win in a row after difficult conference play throughout March.
“It feels good, especially since we’re fighting for first place in the conference right now,” Dempsey said. “We’re trying to win a conference championship, so it’s good that we’re heating up now.”
With this series win, the Eagles raise their conference record to 17-10. They remain one game behind for the ASUN conference lead against the Governors, who hold an 18-9 conference record. FGCU is in a three-way tie for second with the Stetson University Hatters and Jacksonville University Dolphins.
“There’s a sign in our program that pressure is a privilege,” Head Coach Dave Tollett said. “If there’s pressure, that means you’re doing something right, that you’re in the mix for something good.”
The Eagles play their last game at Swanson Stadium against the Florida Atlantic University Owls on May 14. This marks their last non-conference game this season. They play their last conference game on the road against the 21-26-1 University of North Florida Ospreys from May 16 to 18.
