FGCU Baseball vs Quinnipiac Game Three Recap

The FGCU baseball team (11-5) dropped a 9-4 decision to Quinnipiac (4-6) Sunday afternoon at Swanson Stadium. Though they did not earn the win today, the Eagles claimed the overall series after winning both Friday and Saturday's matchups.

"We have to pitch better on Sunday, we gave up too many hits," head coach Dave Tollett said. "It was not a very good day for us on the mound. We had two errors and two walks and a hit-by-pitch. We left 17 runners on base, so it just wasn't a good day for us all around. We'll take the day off tomorrow and then regroup to get ready for the next one against a good Rutgers program."

The Bobcats were aggressive from the start of the game. The visitors brought one run in during the first inning off an RBI single. With the bases loaded in the second and just one out on the board, the Eagles were forced to pull their starter, sophomore Nikolas Bitner, who was eventually tagged with the loss.

Senior Justin Gill took over the mound from Bitner. Both of the inherited runners scored, giving Quinnipiac an early 3-0 lead.

The Bobcats started the third inning with a home run by Samuel LaChance that extended their lead to 4-0.

Hayes recorded the first hit of the game for the home team in the bottom of the third with a single to right center that put freshman Joe Kinker, who had drawn a walk, on third. Senior Keith Stevens reached after being hit by a pitch and the Eagles had a chance to score with the bases loaded, but could not capitalize on it.

Quinnipiac tacked onto their lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single that brought in both Colton Bender and LaChance, who had reached on a fielding error. Down 6-0, the Eagles went to their bullpen again and brought out senior Keegan Collett.

Hayes finally got the home team on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a two-shot homer to right center field that brought in Kinker. Quinnipiac was forced to call Andrew Workman from its bullpen after Stevens crossed home on a wild pitch that cut the lead down 6-3.

After issuing back-to-back walks, Collett was retired by junior Sebastian Gruszecki in the top of the sixth. One of Collett's runners scored on a sacrifice fly that put the Bobcats up 7-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Hayes drove in another RBI for the Eagles. His single through the left side brought in junior Alex Brait, who had drawn a walk.

After allowing two on in the top of the ninth, Gruszecki was retired by sophomore lefty Gus Carter. Carter faced one batter before being replaced by junior Trey Vickery. Both of Gruszecki's runners, as well as Carter's singular runner, scored for Quinnipiac and sealed the victory. The Eagles managed to get the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't finish.

Hayes led the team with three hits and three RBIs. Kinker finished the day with three hits, as well. Brait, junior Elijah Eusebio and senior Eric Gonzalez each tallied one hit for the home team.

Despite losing today, the Eagles have started their season by winning all four of their weekend series.

Up Next:
The Eagles are off until next weekend when they take on Big 10 foe Rutgers (3-9) March 15-17. First pitch of the series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams will play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday before the series finale at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Rutgers is the second Big 10 opponent that the Eagles have on their non-conference slate this year. The Eagles dropped a midweek game 2-0 against Big 10 competitor Ohio State on Feb. 18.