FGCU (42-18, 13-8 A-Sun) is currently the No. 2 seed in the regional and will play Michigan (42-15, 16-8 Big Ten), who is the No. 3 seed.
The regional is double elimination like any tournament would be.
FGCU made it to the NCAA regionals after clinching an automatic bid by beating JU in two championship games to do so. As a result, FGCU was selected to compete in the Chapel Hill Regional of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
Michigan, on the other hand, entered differently. After being eliminated from the made it to the regionals on an at-large bid thanks to their RPI.
Michigan will send junior Oliver Jaskie to pitch while FGCU sent junior Kutter Crawford.
In the first inning, Crawford was off to a shaky start giving up two runs.
After sophomore All-Big Ten First Team member Ako Thomas reached base on catcher's interference and stole second, Crawford struck out senior Johnny Slater, senior Michael Brdar reached on a fielder's choice. Junior All-Big Ten First Team member Drew Lugbauer struck out, but the Wolverines struck the first run. Redshirt sophomore Miles Lewis hit an RBI single for the first run. After junior Jake Bivens walked, sophomore Nick Poirier drove the second run in on a bases loaded walk before sophomore Jonathan Engelmann struck out to end the top half of the first inning.
The Eagles would strike their first run of the game.
After A-Sun First Team All-Conference member, A-Sun All-Freshman Team member and A-Sun Freshman of the Year Richie Garcia grounded out, fellow A-Sun All-Freshman Team member Marc Coffers started with a single. After junior Matt Reardon walked, junior Eli Lovell move Coffers to third base on a fly out for sophomore Jake Smith. Smith would hit an RBI single and drive in Coffers for the first run of not just the game for FGCU, but for their first run in the regionals. Junior Spencer Levine flew out to end the inning.
At the top of the second, Crawford struggled again. After striking out senior Harrison Wenson and forcing Thomas to groundout, Slater would hit a solo home run to make it 3-1 for Michigan before Brdar lined out.
The home run was Slater's fifth of the year.
Michigan's bats were a little quiet after Crawford's strong third and fourth inning.
Soon, FGCU would strike again in the fourth.
After Coffers struck out and Reardon flew out, Lovell and Smith hit back-to-back singles, Levine would single to left and drive in Lovell for the second run of the game before junior A-Sun First Team All-Conference member Julio Gonzalez struck out to end the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning was seemingly the end of Crawford. After walking Slater, getting Brdar to pop out and slater stealing second, Lugbauer hit a single that drove in Slater for Michigan's fourth run of the game.
After giving up one more single to Lewis, head coach Dave Tollett pulled Crawford as a signal that Crawford was done. Tollett put redshirt junior Mario Leon to hopefully finish the inning. Leon managed to strike out Bivens and Poirier to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, with the score 4-2 in favor of Michigan, FGCU would strike again to reduce Michigan's lead.
After Morey struck out, it left a big opening for the redshirt senior A-Sun First Team All-Conference member and A-Sun Player of the Year Nick Rivera. Rivera was 0-2 in the first at-bats against Jaskie, but that suddenly changed. On a full count, Rivera would hit a solo home run to left to make it 4-3.
The home run was Rivera's 18th of the year and 44th of his career.
After Garcia was hit by a pitch, Coffers would end the inning grounding out into a double play.
Michigan would strike again at the top of the sixth.
After getting both Engelmann and Wenson to fly out, Thomas hit a single off of Leon. After Slater walked. Brdar would hit a double and drive in Thomas for Michigan's fifth run of the game. Lugbauer would groundout to end the top half of the inning.
FGCU's bats were not done yet. They would take the game to a whole other level.
After Reardon and Lovel grounded out, Smith started with a two out triple. Levine would then send Smith home with an RBI single for FGCU's fourth run. After Jaskie gave up another single to Gonzalez, Morey would hit another RBI single and send Levine home to tie the game 5-5, signaling the end for Jaskie after 5.2 innings.
Michigan head coach, Erik Bakich, would send senior Mac Lozer to the mound and pitch to Rivera, which was a big mistake.
After Gonzalez and Morey advance to second and third base on a wild pitch, Rivera, on a 1-1 count, hit his second home run, a three run shot to left center, that literally hit the scoreboard to give FGCU an 8-5 lead and the boost they long needed before Garcia lined out to end the inning.
Rivera's home run was his second of the game and 45th of his career.
At the top of the seventh, Leon struggled again.
After getting Lewis struck out and Bivens flew out, Poirier and Engelmann would back-to-backs singles before Wenson drove in Poirier for Michigan's sixth run of the game to make it 8-6.
Tollet would pull Leon and send redshirt junior Kenton Hering to hopefully end the inning. Hering has had his fair share of getting out of jams in relief. In the A-Sun Conference, Hering pitched in four of the six games FGCU played, including pitching a save in two scoreless innings of the first championship game. Because of that, Hering was named on the A-Sun All-Tournament Team. Hering would get Thomas to ground out to end the top of the inning.
Bakich would send junior Alec Rennard in bottom of the seventh to pitch for Lozer and he would throw a 1-2-3 scoreless inning to FGCU to end the seventh.
At the top of the eighth, Hering looked like he was in a jam.
After Slater reached on a fielding error by Rivera, Slater would be out at second after Brdar grounded into a fielder's choice. Lugbauer would groundout to first, advancing Brdar to second. Lewis was a hoping grace for the Wolverines, hoping to cut the lead to one run. Hering seized the opportunity and struck out Lewis to end top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, FGCU needed some good insurance runs to give them a bigger lead.
After Smith grounded out, Levine would start with a one out single. After Gonzalez flew out, Morey would single to left setting up another scoring opportunity for Rivera, but Michigan, after learning from their previous mistakes, did not want that to happen again and decided to intentionally walk Rivera and load the bases for Garcia. Garcia was 0-3 going into the eighth and bounced back driving Levine and Morey on a bases loaded two run single for the insurance runs they asked for to make it 10-6. After Coffers walked to load the bases again for another scoring opportunity, Reardon would fly out to end the eighth inning.
The top of the ninth was Michigan's last chance.
Before Hering pitched in the ninth, Tollett made a couple of changes and freshman Cameron Krzeminski would enter the game in left field for Lovell.
Bivens would start with a lead-off single. Bivens was called out after Poirier grounded into a fielder's choice. Hoping to change things for Michigan, Bakich had freshman Dominic Clementi pinch hit for Engelmann. Clementi was unable to get on base and struck out. Wenson would then single and put Hering in a jam. It was now up to Thomas to try and drive in at least one run, but Hering would not allow it. Thomas would ground out and FGCU would win the game 10-6.
Crawford would end up with a no decision after throwing 4.1 innings. He gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits, walked four batters and struck out eight.
Leon (5-2) would be credited with the win after throwing 2.1 innings. Leon gave up two runs on five hits, walked one batter and struck out three.
Hering was credited with his seventh save of the year after throwing 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out two batters.
Eight of FGCU's batters had at least one hit, four of them had two hits or more.
Morey was 2-4 with a walk, one RBI and two runs scored.
Garcia was 1-4 with the lone hit that brought in the two insurance runs.
Smith was 3-4 with two singles, a triple, one RBI and one run scored.
Levine was 3-4 with two RBIs and two run scored.
Gonzalez, Coffers and Lovell had one hit apiece.
Rivera was 2-4 with the two home runs being his two hits. Rivera had two runs, four RBIs and was intentionally walked once. The two home runs were his 18th and 19th of the year, 44th and 45th in his career and his eighth multi home run game of his career.
With the win, FGCU is 43-18 overall.
Jaskie (8-3) was credited with the loss after surrendering seven runs on 10 hits while walking two batters and striking out six in 5.2 innings.
With the loss, Michigan falls to 42-16 overall and will be sent to the losers bracket while FGCU awaits the winner between The No.1 seed, No. 2 UNC, and No. 4 seed Davidson. FGCU will play the winner of the two teams on Saturday at 6 pm and will air on ESPN 3.
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