Game One:
In game one, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett sent redshirt junior Josh Dye to pitch the opening game while Eastern Michigan interim head coach Eric Roof sent junior Davis Feldman to counter.
In the first inning, Dye was off to a rocky start. After giving up a single to junior Max Schuemann. After Schuemann advance to third on a failed pickoff attempt from Dye, sophomore Zachary Owings would bring in Schuemann on a groundout for the first run of the game.
With the score 1-0 in favor of EMU, FGCU remained scoreless until the bottom of the third. Sophomore Jake Smith would start with a lead-off single. After freshman Christian Proffitt, who made his debut, drew a walk, redshirt senior Gage Morey would get hit by a pitch to load the bases for redshirt sophomore Kohl Gilmore. Gilmore, who made his debut after spending one season at NJCAA Indian River State, would drive in Smith in with an RBI single for FGCU's first run. Senior Eli Lovell would bring in FGCU's second run by bringing in Proffitt on a sacrifice fly.
The runs did not stop for FGCU as sophomore Alex Brait would hit an RBI single that brought in Morey for the third run before sophomore Richie Garcia came to the plate. The former A-SUN Freshman of the Year smacked a two-run triple to bring in Brait and Kilmore.
Of course when Garcia is coming to the plate, all the fans and Dirty Birds in attendance clap to his walk-up song "Bailar" by Elvis Crespo because it's so catchy. Garcia did give me credit for starting it up.
FGCU remained ahead until the seventh inning changed. After Dye was pulled, Tollett brought senior Christian Townsend to pitch in relief for Dye. Townsend would end up giving up two runs in a third of an inning.
Tollet would then bring in sophomore Sebastian Gruszecki to pitch a third of an inning before redshirt senior Parker Hamilton would step in to finish the end of the seventh. Hamilton struggled in the eighth as he gave up the tying run after freshman Nate Jones hit an RBI single to bring in sophomore Nick Jones.
After Hamilton gave up the tying run, Tollett made his big move and had redshirt senior Kenton Hering finish the eighth and indeed he did as Hering got junior Cameron Cruz to strikeout.
By the ninth inning, FGCU found it's spark to win the game. Morey would begin with a lead-off single. After Gilmore walked, Lovell would reach on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Brait would seal the deal with a walk-off bases-loaded single and bring in Morey for the win.
Dye would end up with a no-decision after throwing six innings, giving up two unearned runs on four hits while striking out three batters.
Hering would get the win after throwing 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one batter.
Feldman would also be credited with a no-decision after throwing six innings while giving up five runs on six hits, walking three batters and striking out four.
Senior Justin McMurtrey was credited with the loss after giving up the game-winning run on two hits while walking one batter.
Brait went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Morey was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk.
Garcia was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
In his debut, Gilmore finished 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI.
Proffitt would end up with three walks along with a run scored for his debut.
Junior Keith Stevens also made his debut for the team at first base. After joining FGCU as a double transfer from FAMU and NJCAA Hillsborough Community College (HCC), Stevens went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Junior Eric Gonzalez made his debut as a pinch runner after Stevens drew a walk. Gonzalez spent the first two seasons at NJCAA ASA-Miami.
“It’s been a grind since August and six months in, we’re finally in it,” said Garcia. “This has been the moment I have been waiting for: to hit a triple in my second at bat.”
Game Two:
For game two, Tollett would send redshirt senior Mario Leon to the mound while Roof sent senior Brad Allen to counter.
Leon had no problem at the top of the first. Despite giving up a double and a fielder's choice, the Naples native was able to strike out two batters.
FGCU would strike first in game two. Sophomore Marc Coffers would start off with a single to left. Morey would send Coffers to second after grounding out before Gilmore drove Coffers in on a single for the first run of game two.
After Lovell and Garcia drew back-to-back walks, senior Spencer Levine was hit by a pitch and brought in Gilmore for the second run. Smith would bring in Lovell and Garcia to make it 3-0 on a bases-loaded single.
Eastern Michigan was held scoreless by Leon until the top of third inning when Schuemann hit a single, steal second and advance to third before scoring EMU's first run.
FGCU would add three more runs in the fourth inning to make up for the EMU run. After back-to-back singles from Smith and Proffitt, Coffers would single and send Smith and Proffitt home. Coffers would score the seventh run after Morey hit a fielder's choice.
By the fifth inning, FGCU continued to add more runs to the mix. After a Lovell single, Brait would line a triple and bring in Lovell before scoring on an RBI groundout from Garcia.
At the top of the sixth, freshman Bryan Wilcox would make his collegiate debut and come in relief for Leon and strike out two of his three batters.
FGCU would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Gilmore would start with a two-out single. After redshirt junior Jay Hayes came in as a pinch runner for Gilmore and Lovell drew a walk, Brait would would hit a double and bring in Hayes and Lovell to make it 11-1 FGCU.
FGCU would add one more run to the mix in the eighth. Hayes would start with a two-out single. After Hayes advanced to second on a wild pitch, Lovell would bring Hayes in on a double to make it 12-1 in favor of FGCU.
FGCU would make another pitching change as sophomore Matt Rumpf would enter the game. After giving up two runs in the game, Rumpf was able to get out of the ninth inning for an FGCU win.
"A 2-0 start is what we should do and what we expect to do," said head coach Dave Tollett on games one and two. "It was not pretty at all but we played hard, we played with energy, and as I said earlier before this game, this team is going to get better as the year goes on. I'd rather get better in the win column than the loss column – it makes practice much more fun Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We had guys go out there and compete. I thought our starting pitching, (Josh) Dye and (Mario) Leon, did a great job. And in the second game (Bryan) Wilcox got in the ballgame and did absolutely fantastic. We had guys swing the bat well – Brait, that guy is on fire right now. There's some good things and some bad things but the bottom line is it goes in the left-handed column and we're undefeated."
“It’s just a great feeling,” Garcia added. “It’s a new group of guys. We lost a lot last year, so to start 2-0 on a Friday is amazing. It is an amazing feeling.”
Leon would be credited with the win after throwing five innings and giving up one run on three hits while walking one batter and striking out six.
“I thought I threw okay,” Leon said. “If I had to work on something, it would be minimizing pitch and not be so high. My team is going to need me to go deeper into ballgames, but I thought I did a good job of minimizing some of the mistakes I made early on.”
Wilcox threw three innings and gave up one run on one hit while walking three batters and striking out six while Rumpf threw one inning giving up one run on two hits with one walk.
Smith, Brait, Lovell, Gilmore and Coffers had two hits each. Smith was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, Brait was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, Lovell was 2-for-3 with three runs, an RBI and two walks, Gilmore was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Coffers was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI
Allen was credited with the loss after throwing four innings, and giving up nine runs (six earned) on eight hits while walking two batters and striking out four.
Junior Mitchell Sparks and freshman Dillon Schroeder also pitched for EMU. Sparks gave up two runs on three hits while walking one batter and striking out three in three innings while Schroeder gave up one run on two hits in one inning.
Game Three:
For game three, Tollett sent senior Peyton Gray to pitch against junior Jackson Shaver.
In the first inning, EMU would score the first run. After striking out sophomore Drake Peggs and hitting junior Max Schuemann before picking him off, Gray gave up a solo home run to sophomore Zachary Owings before striking out junior John Rensel Jr. to end the top half of the inning.
At the bottom of the first, FGCU would tie the game as Gilmore hit a solo shot to right center. It was Gilmore's first home run in an FGCU uniform.
At the bottom of the second, FGCU would take the lead. After Garcia was hit by a pitch, Hayes would drive a double, sending Garcia to third. Smith would then send Garcia home with an RBI single and send Hayes to third for Proffitt. Proffitt would send Hayes home with a sacrifice bunt and move Smith to second. From there, Coffers would send Smith home with an RBI single for the final run of the second inning.
At the top of the third, EMU would cut FGCU's lead to one run after Owings sent Peggs home with an RBI single before Schuemann scored on a wild pitch from a failed pickoff attempt.
FGCU was quick to retaliate and increased the lead at the bottom of the third. After Lovell hit a one-out single, Garcia would smack an RBI double to left center, sending Lovell home.
At the top of the fourth, Tollett sent Hamilton to come in to pitch for Gray. After getting Nick Jones to strikeout and Nate Jones to popout, redshirt freshman Jeff Timko and sophomore Devin Hager would hit two-out back-to-back single to start an EMU rally before junior Cameron Cruz sent Timko home for EMU's fourth run of the game signaling the end for Hamilton.
Tollett then sent sophomore Trey Vickery to the mound to replace Hamilton, but it was not very effective as Hager score the game-tying run while Cruz stole second before advancing to third on a Brait throwing error before Peggs brought in Cruz with an RBI single to give EMU the lead.
Tollett would make a third pitching change and send Gruszecki to the mound, but once again, it seemed ineffective as Schuemann hit an RBI double, sending Peggs home.
Tollett would make a fourth pitching change and send in junior Justin Gill to the mound. Gill was making his debut after spending the first two seasons at NJCAA Polk State College. After Schuemann stole third, Owings would hit an RBI single, sending Schuemann home before stealing. Gill was able to strikeout Rensel Jr. to end the top half of the fourth inning.
With the score 8-5 in favor of EMU, in the bottom of the fifth, Brait would hit his first home run of the season with a solo shot to right to make it 8-6 EMU, signaling that FGCU still had fight left in them.
At the top of the sixth, EMU would increase their lead to 10-6. After a Hager lead-off with a bunt single. After Gill got Cruz to strike out swinging, Hager would advance to second on a balk, something I have rarely seen. Peggs would reach first on a Garcia throwing error while Hager advanced to third before scoring EMU's ninth run of the game on a passed ball.
Tollettt kept Gill in the game. Owings would hit another RBI single sending Peggs home before Rensel Jr. struck out swinging for the third time in the game.
EMU remained ahead by a score of 10-6, but just because FGCU was down did not mean that they would give up in the bottom of the sixth. Before the Eagles batted, Roof sent freshman Luke McGuire to pitch for Shaver.
After Proffitt grounded out to start the bottom half, Coffers would begin with a one-out single before stealing second. After Morey walked, Coffers would steal third before Gilmore drew a walk to load the bases for Lovell. Lovell woud draw a walk sending Coffers home and reloading the bases.
Wood would make another pitching change and send freshman Scott Granzotto to the mound. Brait would hit into a fielder's choice and send Morey home to cut the EMU lead. Garcia would follow with an RBI double sending Gilmore to make it 10-9 still in EMU's favor.
Gill remained in the game and held EMU scoreless at the top of the seventh despite giving up three singles.
Wood would make another pitching change in the bottom of the seventh and send senior Justin McMurtrey to mound. McMurtrey would throw a scoreless inning as well.
At the top of the eighth, Hering was sent to the mound after Gill gave up a lead-off double to Peggs. Hering would get Schuemann to ground out before Owings grounded out, sending Peggs to score the 11th EMU run. After giving up a two-out single to Rensel Jr, Hering was able to strikeout Nick Jones to end the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, FGCU would continue to fight. After Lovell reached on a fielder's choice, Brait would cut the EMU lead to one run, sending Lovell home with an RBI double.
After Hering held EMU scoreless at the top of the ninth, it all came down to one final push for FGCU. After a Hayes groundout to start the bottom half, Smith was hit by a pitch to start the rally. Levine would come in to pinch hit for Proffitt and hit a single to left sending Smith to second for Coffers before Gonzalez came in to pinch run. Coffers would tie the game at 10-10 with an RBI single, sending Smith home. Morey would be the saving grace and bring in Gonzalez with a game-winning RBI single.
“Marc told me before the inning it 7,8,9 then let’s do it,” Morey said. “I said all right, let’s do it. Either you’re going to do it or I’m going to do it, so it is going to be one of us.”
"It's huge. Anytime with a new team you can come from behind and win, it will be big for us down the road because we've done it, we've done it early," said Tollett on game three. "For me, with a young team, I just think it's a great thing. I thought if we could ever stop them, we could win the ballgame but we didn't stop them much today. Our offense, I believed if we could have got to Hering like we did it would give us a shot."
Both Gray and Shaver earned a no decision.
Gray threw three innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits while walking one batter and striking out five while Shaver threw five innings, giving up six runs on nine hits while striking out three batters.
Hering was credited with his second win of the season after throwing two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two batters. The run Hering gave up was credited to Gill.
McMurtrey was credited with his second loss after throwing 2.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out two batters.
Gill, in his debut, threw 3.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits while striking out four batters.
Coffers, Morey, Brait, Garcia, and Hayes had multi-hit games.
Coffers and Morey had three hits each. Coffers (3-for-6) had two RBIs, one run and two stolen bases while Morey (3-for-5) had one RBI, one run and one walk.
Brait, Garcia, and Hayes had two hits and a run each. Brait (2-for-5) had three RBIs and a run, Garcia (2-for-4) had two RBIs and a run, and Hayes (2-for-5) had one run.
Gilmore (1-for-4, home run) Lovell (1-for-4, two run and an RBI), Smith (1-for-4, two runs and an RBI), and Levine (1-for-1) had one hit each.
Owings was 4-for-5 with the home run and five RBIs for EMU.
Game Four:
For game four, Tollett sent freshman Tyler Shuck to the mound while Wood sent senior Luke DeVenney. Shuck was making his debut after graduating from Canterbury High School.
EMU would score first at the top of the first. After Peggs drew a lead-off walk, Shuck would get Schuemann to grounding while Peggs advanced to second before stealing third. After Owings and Rensel Jr drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, Nate Jones would send Peggs and Owings home with a two RBI single before Timko lined out into a double play.
FGCU would then get on the board in the bottom half. Coffers would begin with a lead-off double. After Morey walked, Gilmore would reach first on a fielder's choice sending Coffers to third. After Lovell struck out, Brait and Garcia hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 2-2.
EMU would retake the lead at the top of the second. After Nate Jones drew a lead-off walk, Hager would send him to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Cruz struck out, Peggs would hit a double and bring Jones home before being called out attempting to stretch to a triple.
At the top of the third, Schuemann grounded out before Owing and Rensel Jr drew back-to-back one out walks. This signaled the end for Shuck as Tollett sent Townsend to the mound to pitch.
After a double steal before walking Nick Jones to load, Townsend was able to get Timko to pop an infield fly for the second out. Tollett would make a second pitching change as he sent Vickery to the mound. Vickery would get Nate Jones to fly out and stop EMU from scoring.
Going into the top of the fourth, Tollett would make his third pitching change and send junior Evan Lumbert to the mound. Lumbert was making his debut after spending the first two seasons at NJCAA South Florida State College. After giving up a Hager lead-off single, Cruz would send Hager home after a fielding and throwing error from Garcia. Lumbert was able to escape the inning as picked off Cruz at second, struck out Peggs and got Schuemann to line out.
In the bottom of the fourth, FGCU would cut the EMU lead to one run once again. After Levine was hit by a pitch, Smith would follow with a one-out single sending Levine to second. Proffitt would follow with single to load the bases for Coffers, who drove in Levine with a sac fly.
After a scoreless fifth and score top of the sixth, FGCU continued to fight in the bottom of the sixth. Before the bottom of the sixth, Wood would send freshman Thomas House to the mound. After a two-out back-to-back singles from Smith and Proffitt, Coffers would draw a walk to load the bases for Morey. Morey would tie the game with a bases-loaded single and sent Smith home.
EMU would retake the lead at the top of the seventh. After a Schuemann lead-off infield single before advancing to second on a passed ball, Lumbert would get Owings to strikeout. Schuemann would then advance to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Rensel Jr. would drive Schuemann home with an RBI single to give EMU a 5-4 lead. Lumbert remained in the game and got Nick Jones to strikeout before freshman Shane Easter lined out to end the top half.
In the eighth inning, FGCU seemed hopeless after EMU scored another run at the top of the eighth after a solo home run off the bat of Cruz, but they proved that they were the better Eagle in the bottom of the eighth. Smith would start the rally with a lead-off single. After Proffitt flied out and Coffers fouled out, Morey would draw a walk for Gilmore. Gilmore would clock a three-run shot to left center and give FGCU the lead. This was Gilmore's second home run of the season.
At the top of the ninth, FGCU made a defensive substitution as Hayes would play at first base for Gilmore. EMU would then tie the game after an RBI single from Nick Jones.
At the bottom of the ninth, EMU made another pitching change as Wood sent Schroeder to pitch the ninth inning before it was time for FGCU to steal the show. After Garcia was hit by a pitch to start the bottom half, Garcia would advance to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Tollett would then have sophomore Tyler Yeager pinch run for Garcia while Levine was at-bat. Yeager would then advance to third on a wild pitch. With one final swing, Levine would seal the deal with a single to right and Yeager home for the win.
“I went up there knowing I was going top sac-bunt,” Levine said. “He throws away the first one, and I’m like all right, I’m still going to sac bunt. Just trying to get my job done. Then the wild pitch comes and I’m thinking he’s been wild, so I am probably going to walk, but then [Brandon] Romand gives me the swing sign and I’m like ‘if I get the pitch, I’m going to swing’, and that’s what happened.
Shuck and DeVenney earned no-decisions. Shuck threw 2.1 innings, giving up three runs on two hits while walking six batters and striking out one while DeVenney threw five innings, giving up three runs on five hits while walking three batters and striking out three.
Lumbert would earn the win after throwing six innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on seven hits while walking one batter and striking out six.
Schroder would be credited with the loss after giving up one run on one hit without an inning thrown.
"It's Swanson and special things happen here," said Tollett on game four. "To do it three times, I don't think we've had three walk-off wins in a series. There was great timely hits, the hit by pitch -- our bottom of the order really kept us alive. And Lumbert gave us a chance, he gave us a spark. He's a bulldog and he's a fighter."
Smith and Proffitt were the only FGCU players with a multi-hit game for game four. Smith was 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Proffitt was 2-for-4.
Coffers (1-for-3, one double, one RBI, one run, one walk), Morey (1-for-3, one RBI, one run, two walks), Gilmore (1-for-4, one home run, three RBIs, one walk, two runs), Brait (1-for-5, one RBI), Garcia (1-for-4, one RBI), and Levine (1-for-3, one RBI, one run scored, one walk) had one hit and at least one RBI each.
FGCU remains at home as they face former A-SUN member Eastern Tennessee State (ETSU) on February 23-25.
Below are pics with me and the baseball players from games one and two:
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| With Marc Coffers and Alex Brait |
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| With Spencer Levine |
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| With Jay Hayes |
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| With Christian Townsend |
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| With Eli Lovell |
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| With Richie Garcia |
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| With Kenton Hering |
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