FGCU Baseball vs Siena Game One Recap

The FGCU baseball team (6-2) earned a 8-0 shutout victory over Siena (2-5) in the first of a four-game non-conference series Thursday night at Swanson Stadium.

Senior pitcher Evan Lumbert (1-1) dictated the first six innings of the game from the mound. The right-hander gave up just two hits through six innings en route to earning his first win of the season. Junior Sebastian Gruszecki made a clean, two-inning relief appearance before junior Keegan Collett came in to close. Collett fanned three to end the game.

"This was a really, really good night," FGCU coach Dave Tollett said. "Gonzalez, Stevens, Hayes and Kinker all finished with multiple hits. Having multiple guys who can be a threat in our lineup puts us in a good position going forward. If you look at our season so far, we have great offensive production from a different set of guys each night. From a pitching standpoint, a shutout is always good. Lumbert did a great job making it through six innings and I was happy with how the bullpen came in. They were huge."

The Green and Blue finished with 15 hits from nine different players. The Saints finished the game with two total, both of which came in the first three innings of the game. Seniors Eric Gonzalez and Jay Hayes led the charge, finishing with three hits apiece. Gonzalez totaled one home run, a double and a single, while Hayes finished with a pair of doubles and a single.

Junior Richie Garcia was first to get on the board for the Eagles, scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. Later in the inning, Hayes singled to center field to drive in Gonzalez. The Eagles tacked on their third run of the game when freshman Joe Kinker doubled to left field, bringing in junior Marc Coffers.

After a Gonzalez homer in the sixth, the Eagles further distanced themselves from the Saints in the seventh. Senior Keith Stevens added a home run of his own over the wall in left field. Freshman Jalen Townsend scored on a Gonzalez double after coming into the game to pinch hit and Gonzalez scored on another Hayes double.

Siena's starting pitcher Ben Seiler was tagged with the loss after conceding three runs on seven hits in his five innings on the mound. He struck out four and walked two. Nate Toms came in and gave up one run in his inning of relief before turning things over to Tim Zehnbauer who let up four runs on five hits. John Nolan came in to face the final four Eagle batters, allowing just one hit.

The two hits from the Saints came from Alex Milone and Brian Kelly. Milone got himself into scoring position in the second but was left stranded.

Tonight marks the Eagles' fourth consecutive game with double-digit hits and sixth through their eight games so far.

Up Next:
The teams will return to Swanson Stadium tomorrow for another game at 6:30 p.m. under the lights. The Saints struggled offensively tonight, but scored 15 runs in three games in their most recent series against the reigning A-SUN champion Stetson.