FGCU Baseball vs LIU-Brooklyn Game Two Recap

The FGCU baseball team (4-2) continued its torrid start to the season with a 10-1 victory over LIU Brooklyn (0-5) Saturday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.

The Eagles have now opened the campaign with a pair of series triumphs. They have scored 58 times through six games and have reached double-digit runs in four games. Both marks are the first occurrences since 2010, and the run production is the second-most in the NCAA Division I era (since 2008). FGCU also cranked out 16 hits.

"We're swinging the bats pretty well. I'm very impressed with our offense at the moment," FGCU coach Dave Tollett said. "Our pitching has also been stellar this weekend. Our bullpen was good today, and our starter (Brenden) Heiss has gotten better each week. We're in a good place right now, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. This team has a chance to be pretty good."

Senior Eric Gonzalez, junior Alex Brait and true freshman Joe Kinker all had three hits for the Eagles. The trio also combined for six RBIs and five runs scored. Kinker tied the school record with three doubles, which is a mark that has been matched just one other time in school history. That came last season off the bat of junior Richie Garcia, who finished Saturday's win with a hit of his own.

Juniors Marc Coffers and Kohl Gilmore added two hits each to the winning cause.

LIU Brooklyn actually took a lead in the second inning when Colin Adams sent a solo home run over the wall in left center. The rest of the game was all Eagles, however. Coffers tied the game on a Brait RBI in the third, and Kinker gave the home side the lead for good with a two-out, two-RBI double later in the frame. Four different players recorded RBIs in the sixth as FGCU batted around and blew the game open. The home side added an insurance marker in the seventh and two more in the eighth to complete the scoring.

Four Eagle hurlers combined to give up just two hits all game.

Junior Brenden Heiss took the ball first and fought into a no-decision after conceding one run on one hit across 4.0 innings. He struck out six and walked five.

Sophomore Tyler Shuck (2-0) went the next 3.2 frames and did not allow a run to earn the win. He conceded just one hit, while striking out four and walking two.

Juniors Garrett Bye and Keegan Collett combined to record the final four outs, and they did not give up a run or a hit.

The only other hit from the visitors was registered by Joe Mercadante in the eighth. Starter Alec Huertas (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits in 3.0 innings to take the loss. Ryan Neuweiler, Jackson Svete and Anthony combined to allow seven runs on 10 hits in the remaining 5.0 frames.

Up Next:
The series is set to conclude at 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at Swanson Stadium. The Blackbirds are off to a slow start this season, but they won the Northeast Conference Championship last year and advanced to an NCAA Championship Regional. These are the first three contests between the two programs in school history.