FGCU Baseball vs #22 Pepperdine Recap

The FGCU baseball team (5-7) handed No. 22 Pepperdine (10-2) its second loss of the season, as they defeated the visiting Waves by a score of 6-5 on Tuesday night at Swanson Stadium. The win is the Eagles' first over a ranked opponent since they downed No. 5 Florida 7-2 in Gainesville last season.

"This is a good club, which is what I've been saying the whole time," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We haven't pressed the panic button. We've had years that things have started off slowly. But we were ready to play tonight. Swanson Stadium is a special place and our players know that. This was a big win for us and we're really excited to see where we can go from here."

Though Pepperdine led through the opening innings, it was freshman Kyle Machado's first career homer that handed the home team its first lead in the bottom of the fifth. That shot, coupled with another run from senior Cameron Krzeminski, boosted FGCU to its victory.

Both teams got on the board in the opening frame. The Waves were the first to do so in their half, pushing a run across on a sac fly. In the bottom of the inning, the Eagles loaded up the bases and scored when Machado was hit by a pitch, bringing in junior Brian Ellis to knot things up at 1-1.

In the next inning, the Waves regained their lead after an Eagle miscue allowed a run to come in and put the team back up 2-1. FGCU later managed to load up the bases in an attempt to respond, but the Waves yanked their starter and the new arm was able to close out the frame, stranding all three runners.

An RBI single and an RBI double added to the visiting team's lead in the fourth. With one away and runners on second and third, the Eagles pulled junior starter Gus Carter in favor of senior Hunter McGarry. The reliever killed the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.

Once again the Eagles were able to respond in their half of the inning, as they put up a three-spot to tie things back up. Ellis kicked off the scoring by sending junior Brandon Dorsey in with an outfield single. Seniors Alex Brait and Richie Garcia also tallied RBI, as they plated senior Elijah Eusebio and Ellis to finish out the spree.

Following a one-two-three inning against McGarry, Machado handed the Eagles the lead when he crushed his home run over the wall in left center in the bottom of the fifth.

After a few quiet innings, the Waves got things going in the top of the seventh and loaded up the bases. With just one out on the board, the Eagles were forced into their bullpen, optioning for senior Sebastian Gruszecki. McGarry finished his three-frame outing lined up for the win as he allowed one hit and fanned three during his stay on the mound. Upon entering the game, Gruszecki took a Wave down swinging and forced a groundout to prevent the visiting team from pushing any of its runners across.

The Eagles carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, where they added another run to their lead. Krzeminski led things off with an infield single and, after stealing a bag, came around to score when Dorsey knocked one up the middle.

Pepperdine took another crack at the home team's lead in the eighth and managed to load up the bases once again. Despite the scoring opportunity, the Waves were only able to bring in one run as Gruszecki and the Eagles battled back to minimize the damage and hold on to their lead. Pepperdine's only other loss this season was an 8-2 decision at the hands of No. 6 UCLA.

McGarry earned his second win of the season, improving to 2-1 overall. Gruszecki was awarded the save, marking his second of 2020 and the fourth of his career. With the victory, the Eagles improve to 22-50-1 over ranked opponents all-time, which includes a 6-16-1 mark at Swanson Stadium.