Junior Sean Dwyer (4-for-6) belted a
three-run homer in the 11th inning to lift Florida Gulf Coast (5-1) to a 7-4
victory over No. 13 Florida (3-5) and a sweep of the teams’ three-game series
at McKethan Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Junior right-hander Harrison Cooney
(1-1) threw five innings of scoreless relief and registered five strikeouts to
pick up the win and the Eagles totaled a season-high 16 hits. Sophomore Justin
Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) (0-1) took the loss and freshman Richie Martin
(Brandon, Fla.) had three hits for the Gators.
After Florida was unable to convert an
opportunity in the 10th when it had the bases loaded with none out, junior
Brandon Bednar (2-for-6) poked a one-out single into left center field in the
11th and freshman pinch hitter Tyler Selesky earned a free pass on a full
count. Moments later, Dwyer sent Shafer’s initial offering over the fence in
right field to put the Eagles ahead by three runs. Cooney worked around a
one-out single by Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) in the home part of
the inning to hand the Gators’ their fourth-straight defeat.
“First
of all, I want to congratulate Florida Gulf Coast,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan
said. “They earned what they got this weekend and they played outstanding. They
swung the bats very well, so I don’t want to take anything away from them. With
that being said, we have a lot to work on. We’ve got to get the ball down, we
have to execute better on the mound and we’ve got to get better starts – we
haven’t had a really good start all year long. We had our opportunities – when
you have bases loaded and nobody out, somebody has to hit a fly ball.”
Although FGCU had consecutive two-out singles
to begin the game against freshman Eric Hanhold (Palm Harbor, Fla.) by Dwyer
and redshirt senior Brooks Beisner (3-for-6), the right-hander whiffed
sophomore Michael Suchy for his second strikeout of the inning. Hanhold was
making his first collegiate start.
The Eagles plated a pair of runs in the
second inning on an RBI double by junior Andrew Valencia and a squeeze bunt by redshirt
sophomore Alex Diaz to open the scoring. Sophomore Zack Tillery led off with a
single up the middle and came around on Valencia’s double into the left-field
corner. A single by freshman Colton Bottomley pushed Valencia to third and Diaz
laid down a perfect bunt to score Valencia and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Florida put a pair of runners aboard with two
down in the third against freshman Michael Murray, as Bader walked and Martin collected
his second hit of the contest. However, Murray had sophomore Casey Turgeon
(Palm Harbor, Fla.) line out to left field to end the inning.
Following a leadoff walk to Valencia in the
fourth, sophomore Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) replaced Hanhold
(3.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 K, 1 BB). Although Diaz and Bednar had back-to-back singles
that loaded the bases with one down for FGCU, Magliozzi had both senior Mike
Reeves and Dwyer pop up to hold the Gators’ deficit at 2-0.
In the home part of the frame, redshirt sophomore
Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) (2-for-4) doubled to right center with one
down and went to third on a grounder by freshman Kevin Stypulkowski
(Lake Worth, Fla.). Matthews had sophomore Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton,
Fla.) fly out to preserve the 2-0 count.
Martin cut FGCU’s lead in half with a two-out
RBI single in the fifth that drove in senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach,
Fla.). Senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) (2-for-5) began the inning by
legging out an infield single but was erased at second base on a fielder’s
choice by Dent. A throwing error on the play by Diaz enabled Dent to occupy
second base. A grounder by Bader advanced Dent and Martin put the Gators on the
scoreboard with his third hit of the contest. Murray maintained the Eagles’
advantage by having Turgeon fly out to left field.
The Gators plated three runs on four hits in
the sixth to build a 4-2 advantage. Shafer started things off with a single
that raised his hitting streak to six games and Powers followed with a base-hit
into right field to put the Orange and Blue in business. Stypulkowski
sacrificed his teammates over with a bunt and Gushue punched a game-tying
single into center field. Redshirt freshman Gabe Rivera replaced Murray (5.1
IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER) and an infield single by Ramjit drove in Powers to move UF
ahead. Rivera was called for a balk, advancing Gushue and Ramjit, and Dent
provided the Gators with a 4-2 lead on an RBI grounder to shortstop.
Beisner knotted the game at 4-4 in the
seventh with a two-out, two-run homer to right field. After Magliozzi recorded
the first two outs, Dwyer singled through the left side and Beisner sent the
next pitch over the right-field wall for his team-leading fourth homer, second
of the series. A single by Suchy prompted a call to the bullpen, with freshman Jay
Carmichael (Cape Coral, Fla.) replacing Magliozzi (3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R). The
righty had Tillery to right field.
Cooney came in for Rivera (0.2 IP) prior to
Florida’s seventh at bat and tossed a 1-2-3 inning. Carmichael set down the
Eagles in order in the top of the eighth and Cooney did the same to the Gators
in the bottom of the stanza.
A one-out single by Reeves in the ninth
brought junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) in for Carmichael (1.2 IP, 1
H) and Dwyer greeted the lefty with a single into center field for two runners
aboard. Shafer came in from right field and caught Beisner looking on strikes
for the second out and had Suchy ground out to keep the contest deadlocked.
In the bottom of the inning, Dent drew a
one-out walk and moved into scoring position with his first theft of the season.
Cooney countered with strikeouts of Bader and Martin to give the fans free
baseball at McKethan Stadium for the second time this week.
After Shafer notched three-straight outs in
the 10th, Turgeon roped a leadoff single into left field and advanced to third
base on a failed pickoff attempt by Cooney. The Eagles walked Shafer and Powers
intentionally to load the bases and the move paid off when Cooney had
Stypulkowski fly out to right field, a grounder by freshman pinch hitter Christian
Dicks (Jacksonville, Fla.) force Turgeon at home and then a fly out by
Ramjit send the game to the 11th.
