FGCU Baseball continues its hot streak. The Eagles have won three of their last four series, keeping them in contention for an ASUN Tournament postseason spot. They opened their three-game series against Queens in an 8-1 takedown on April 25 at Swanson Stadium.
Both teams combined for six stranded runners in the first inning before they exchanged runs a piece on productive at-bats in the second. Jon Embury and Jaret Nelson homered in the bottom of the fourth to end the stalemate. The frame concluded with a 4-1 FGCU lead.
Outfielder Harrison Povey added a solo round-tripper in the bottom of the fifth, on a lost high fly ball to center, sliding home to beat the tag. Queens failed to register a hit for the rest of the evening.
The game picked up in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of yet another Povey home run that paved the way for a three-run inning. Nelson picked up a two-RBI single through the left side to put a shiv in the ballgame.
Evan Dempsey had a notable performance on the bump, allowing a single run in seven innings. He also punched in one RBI. The Eagles rallied for 15 hits over the course of the matchup, the second-most thus far this season.
FGCU defeated Queens 7-1 on April 26 n another lopsided ballgame to clinch the series in Swanson Stadium. Eagles outscored Queens 15- 2 over the first eighteen innings of play.
It was an uneventful first two frames before Queens opened the scoring at the top of the third with a single through the left side, sending a base runner home.
The Eagles trailed until they broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, surging for three runs. Redshirt senior Jake McKee led the attack with a triple to complement a Nelson leadoff walk and a stolen base on second.
With the game tied, Povey stepped up to the occasion, jacking a no-doubter to put the Eagles ahead 4-1. This marked his third home run of the series.
Embury kicked off the barrage in the bottom of the eighth with a missile over the left field wall. McKee made it rain runs when he homered to right field to put the Eagles up 7-1, placing a cork in any comeback attempt.
Pitcher Chris Diaz gave Queens the business all game long, dishing out nine strikeouts while allowing just one run on four hits. Ryan Brown tallied a multiple-hit day for the visitors.
The Royals opened with a bang as lead-off batter Ryan Brown homered on the second pitch of the game. Queens held the lead until the bottom of the third frame as Dempsey was walked after being hit by a Queens pitcher, Landry Dureka. However, it started to unravel after Moise struck out swinging on a 2-2 count.
All three runners were left on base after Povey fouled out to third.
Queens stretched their lead in the fifth inning when Will Budnick and Jay Polite occupied third and first. Ryan Brown was then able to land a single after hitting a drive through first and second, allowing Budnick to score.
Following Brown’s at bat, Jake Barbour hit a pop fly to center field, landing him out, but providing Polite the opportunity to score, an opportunity Polite took, to bring the score to 3-0.
The top half of the sixth inning saw a strong showing from the Royals and a pitching meltdown with a walk and a single landed Lenox Lively and Anibal Rivera on base.
Starting pitcher Ryland Bozenhard was relieved by Anthony Ursitti. He walked Budnick to load the bases. It seemed the nightmare inning may have been over for the Eagles, until starting pitcher Anthony Ursitti allowed a walk, which allowed Lively, who was on third with bases loaded, to score.
The damage stopped when Ryan Brown flew out to right field to end the period down, 4-0.
FGCU made a valiant attempt to turn the tide at the bottom of the sixth as Povey, Cayden Hessemeyer and Jon Embury loaded the bases. Tyler Herb made it to first on a fielder’s choice, foiling Povey’s attempt to make it home.
The Eagles were finally able to score when a single from Jaret Nelson ushered Hessemeyer home. The inning ended with a groundout from Roberts.
Dempsey carried this momentum into the seventh inning and bombed a homer to reduce the deficit to 4-2. Neither team amounted to an offense charge for the rest of the game
The Eagles will face North Florida in a three-game home series from May 2 to 4. FGCU holds an 18-25, 8-13 ASUN conference record, with nine conference games left. They are ten games behind ASUN Graphite Division leader Stetson, who have an 18-10 record.
