FGCU vs UNF Game One Recap

The FGCU baseball team (13-7, 0-1 A-SUN) fell to UNF (15-9, 1-0 A-SUN) in the A-SUN Conference opener for both programs Friday night at Harmon Stadium.

"It's tough to come back from giving up four runs in the first," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We gave up too many freebies to win on a Friday night. We hit three home runs, but they were all solos. We struggled to get anyone on base in front of those guys. That's the story of the game. We'll get back at it tomorrow."

Senior Evan Lumbert made the start for the Green and Blue on the mound. Through 4.2 innings of work, he struck out four, walked three and allowed five runs on as many hits.

The Ospreys opened up the game with a four-spot in the first inning, marking the most runs scored by an FGCU opponent in the first frame of a game this season.

Senior Jay Hayes broke open the scoring for the Eagles with a solo home run over the wall in left center field in the fourth inning. Junior Kohl Gilmore tagged on a solo shot of his own when he cranked a ball out that cut UNF's lead to 4-2.

Hayes came back up for the Eagles in the fifth inning and doubled down the left field line to plate junior Alex Brait, who had reached with a single up the middle and stole his fourth base of the season. The run put the Green and Blue within one.

After two Ospreys reached base in the fifth, Lumbert was retired for the evening by sophomore lefty Gus Carter. Carter tossed the next frame for the Eagles, striking out two, walking one and allowing two runs that extended UNF's lead to 5-3.

Junior Keegan Collett and junior Garrett Bye each made appearances for the Green and Blue in the seventh inning. Collett faced four batters and notched one strikeout before handing the mound over to Bye. With the bases loaded, Bye recorded a strikeout to get out of the frame.

After two scoreless innings, freshman Joe Kinker blasted the second pitch of his at-bat out of the park to pull the Eagles within three in the eighth, but it was the last scoring play for the Green and Blue.

Junior Brenden Heiss kept the Ospreys off the board to close out the frame, finishing with one strikeout.

The last time FGCU dropped the first game of a weekend series was a 6-3 loss to Bethune-Cookman in the season opener, but the Eagles came back to claim the series. Lumbert (2-2) was tagged with tonight's loss. The Ospreys' starter Brad Deppermann earned the win and Trace Norkus was awarded a save for keeping the Green and Blue off the board in the final frame.

Up Next:
The teams will be back in action at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Harmon Stadium for the second game of the series. The finale is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.