Redshirt senior Mario Leon was set to pitch the series opener as he faced junior Austin Allinger.
In the bottom of the first, FGCU grabbed the lead in the first frame. After sophomore Marc Coffers led off the first with a double down the right field line, redshirt sophomore Kohl Gilmore brought in Coffers with an RBI groundout for his team-leading 21st RBI of the season to put the Green and Blue in front 1-0.
After another scoreless inning from Leon, the Eagles would add on to the lead in the second. After a one out single off the bat of redshirt junior Jay Hayes, sophomore Alex Brait reached first on a fielder's choice for junior Eric Gonzalez. The ASA Miami transfer drove a 0-1 pitch over the right center field fence to score himself and Brait to put the Eagles in front 3-0. It was Gonzalez's third home run of the season.
Gonzalez's mother, Sasha, who was in attendance, had not seen her son hit one home run in his entire baseball career and now she was able to see her son do so.
"I didn't know whether I was going to cry, cheer, scream or faint," said (Sasha) Gonzalez. "I'm just so happy to see my son hit a home run live and in person is something a mother could always ask for."
The Eagles broke the game open in the fourth. Hayes started the rally by reaching first on a hit by pitch before motoring to third on a failed pickoff throw by the catcher. After Brait was also hit by a pitch, Gonzalez drove in Hayes on a sacrifice fly to center. Freshman Christian Proffitt then singled to right to put runners at the corners for redshirt senior Gage Morey as he reached on an infield single to bring home Brait.
"We couldn't minimize the big inning", said Evansville head coach Wes Carroll. They hung a six-spot on us in the fourth inning, a couple of them unearned runs. Any time you give up a big inning like that versus a quality starter, our offense couldn't come out of the hole for us.
Evansville went to the bullpen to signal the end for Allinger and senior Hunter Porterfield would come in for the fourth. After Porterfield walked Gilmore to load the bases, sophomore Richie Garcia would chop a double to right center, scoring both Proffitt and Morey. Senior Eli Lovell hit a high chopper to second that beat out, allowing not only Gilmore to come home, but also Garcia.
FGCU plated one more run in the eighth. After Coffers reached first on a throwing error and Morey singled to right, Garcia would double with two outs, bringing in Coffers to make it 10-0.
"We got a good performance out of Mario (Leon), who wasn't feeling his best but gave everything he had tonight," said head coach Dave Tollett. "It was our first shutout of the year so as the pitching coach and as the head coach I'm very happy. We got some big hits and put the game away early on a big night for (Richie) Garcia and (Eric) Gonzalez. This club can really swing the bat."
"We feel like we have a good idea how to work through their lineup now, going into tomorrow", said Carroll. "The good thing is they can't carry over any of those runs, and I know our guys are going to come to the yard expecting to win and compete at a very high level."
Leon would earn his second win of the season after throwing six scoreless innings, walking two while striking out three.
Allinger would earn his first loss of the season after throwing 3.2 innings. Allinger gave up seven runs (five earned) on six hits while walking one batter and striking out four.
Sophomore Sebastian Gruszecki would earn his first save of the season after throwing three scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out four.
Morey and Garcia finished 3-for-4 each. Morey had one RBI and one run scored while Garcia had three RBIs and a run scored.
Gonzalez finished 1-for-3 with the two-run shot and a sacrifice fly.
Coffers, Hayes, Lovell, and Proffitt finished with one hit each. Lovell added two RBIs.
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