The University of Florida baseball team defeated Florida Gulf Coast University  7-1 at Hammond Stadium on Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Eagles  to 24-14 for the year. “I thought they were better than us,” FGCU head coach Dave Tollett said. Pitcher Brady Anderson pitched four innings in a losing effort for the Eagles. “Stuff was going my way today,” Anderson said. The Eagles only managed only four hits in the game.
Gators pitcher Ryan Harris started and gave up one hit in his two innings of work. Pitcher Kirby Snead hurled four innings in relief for the Gators.
Gators catcher Taylor Gushue got the scoring started for UF with the first of his three hits in the first inning. The hit scored second baseman Casey Turgeon. Gushue would later add another single in the third inning to make the score 2-0 Gators.
The Gators would add two more runs in the fourth inning to make it 4-0. Gators shortstop Richie Martin drove home the fourth run with his third hit of the game.
In the seventh inning, UF scored three more runs to make the score 7-0. The Eagles then scored their lone run on back-to-back doubles from first baseman Nick Rivera and right fielder Michael Suchy. This marked the final run of the game.
The Eagles made three costly errors in the game. “We have been playing well. I think we took a lot of our bad at-bats out there in the field defensively. I think some of our youth showed there,” Tollett said.
FGCU continued its struggles at Hammond Stadium. This game dropped the Eagles to 0-6 all time at Hammond Stadium. “We are not playing Manhattan here,” Tollett said.
“We played in crowds like this before, just the luck of the draw I guess,” Anderson said.
FGCU will return to Swanson Stadium on Thursday, April 17 for a three-game series with North Florida.