FGCU baseball splits Saturday doubleheader with Central Michigan

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (1-2) played 21 innings of baseball on Saturday but would only emerge with a split of the doubleheader opposite Central Michigan (2-1). The Eagles picked up their first win of the season in the first game by a score of 6-4 but a ninth-inning rally by CMU would spoil the would-be sweep allowing the Chippewas to go on and pick up a 7-6 win in 12 innings.

The Eagles sent freshman lefty Devin Smeltzer (Voorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) to the hill to make his Green and Blue debut in game one. He would toss 4.0 innings, allowing five hits and four runs but just one earned. The Voorhees, N.J. native would also strikeout five batters but would not factor in the decision. Garrett Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) would toss 4.1 innings in relief and strike out three to earn the victory. Andris Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./Indian River State College) earned the first save of his career after recording the final out of the ninth.

Brady Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) took the ball in game two as the first of seven pitchers to take the mound for the Green and Blue in the second half of the double dip. Anderson would toss 4.1 innings and allow just three runs, two earned while striking out three. Mike LaGrange (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete College), Adam Eggnatz (Tampa, Fla./Middle Georgia College) and Nick Deckert (Tallahassee, Fla./Tallahassee CC) would all come on in relief of Anderson. Deckert left runners on base with a two-run lead in the ninth when Jordan Desguin (Newport Beach, Cal./Newport Harbor) took over but the Chippewas would tie the game with two outs in the ninth.

Gonzalez took over for Desguin in the 10th and left with runners on in the 12th when Jack English (Delray Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman) took the ball with one out and induced a pop-up then picked up a strikeout to seemingly the threat but the third strike would bounce away from catcher Bryan Voelkl (Bradenton, Fla./SCOF) allowing the runner on third to scamper home and give Central Michigan the eventual game-winning run.

“We had our opportunities tonight,” head coach Dave Tollett said. “The bounces in the end didn’t go our way but it shouldn’t have come to that. We took care of business in game one and Garrett pitched great in relief to get us to that point. In game two we had our chance to close it out and just didn’t find a way. We put a lot of young guys in new situations today and many of them performed exceptionally well. We just need to put it all together.”

GAME 1
After a scoreless first, it would be Central Michigan striking first off Smeltzer in the top of the second. An early error resulted in a CMU runner reaching second with one out. Smeltzer would pick up a strike out for second out of the inning but the subsequent batter would single to left, bringing in the first run of the ball game. The lead would not last long, however, as FGCU mounted a rally of its own in the bottom half.

Voelkl led off with a single to left center then with one out, Eggnatz doubled off the wall in deep right to put runners on second and third for Brian Pruett (Sarasota, Fla./Coastal Carolina) who singled down the right field line for his first hit and pair of RBI’s this season. Pruett would advance to second on the throw home. Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Marin County) followed with a bunt single putting runners on first and third with one out still. A pass ball would allow Pruett to score from third to give the Eagles a three one lead heading into the third.

CMU would pick up one run in the third and the game would remain scoreless until the fifth when the Chippewas put together a quick two-out rally. Central Michigan would plate two runs in the frame to take a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) led off with a long homerun over the left field wall, his first of the year, to tie the ball game up, 4-4. No more scoring would be done until the seventh when Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) led off the frame with a single through the right side. Rivera would take a pitch off the face to put two on with no out and Bottomley would sacrifice both runners into scoring position. Voelkl grounded out to second, scoring one run and giving FGCU the lead. Freshman Kyle Gilbert (Lake Mary, Fla./Seminole HS) followed with a single through the left side to push FGCU ahead 6-4.

The FGCU bullpen combination of Anderson and Gonzalez would handle their business from that point on to secure the first victory of 2015 for the Green and Blue.

GAME 2
The Eagles struck early in game two. Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) led off the game for the Eagles with a single up the middle then would be sacrificed into scoring position by Reardon. Noll would be hit by pitch and steal second, his second swipe of the year already, and would be followed by a Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) walk to load the bases with one out for Bottomley who promptly singled up the middle to drive two runs.
Gilbert led off the second with a double to left and would advance to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt off the bat of fellow freshman Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS). Pruett would come up and bounce a ball to short for the second out but allowing Gilbert to score at the same time to push the Eagles ahead 3-0 at the time.

Central Michigan began to chip away with a run in the fourth and came all the way back to tie the game in the tip of the fifth, forcing Anderson out the game early. In the bottom half, however, Spivey led off with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Reardon then came up with two out and singled to center, driving in the first run of his young career and giving FGCU the lead back, 4-3.

The Eagles pushed ahead 5-3 in the sixth when Spivey produced a two-out double that drove in a run. CMU cut the lead in half in the top of the eighth but the Eagles once again responded in the bottom half when Rivera led off the frame with a double to deep left. Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central) pinch ran for Rivera then would be driven in by Bottomley who produced his third RBI of the game and fourth of the day with a single up the middle.

Leading 6-4 heading into the top of the ninth, the Chippewas quickly put runners on first and third with one out, forcing Deckert out of the game in favor of Desguin. The CMU runner on first took second to put both in scoring position but the FGCU junior right-hander picked up his first strikeout to bring up Logan Regnier with two away. Regnier took and 0-1 offering from Desguin and drilled a triple down the right field line to tie the game and send this one to the home half of the ninth.

The Eagles would go down quietly in the ninth and this one would cruise into extras with no real threat from either team coming until the top of the 12th. CMU led off with a walk and a subsequent single would put runners on first and third with no out. Regnier stole second then a line-drive bounced off Gonzalez and over to Reardon who fielded the ball and threw out a runner at home for the first out. Jack English took over on the mound and immediately, the Chippewas executed a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. A pop out put the opportunity in the hands of Nick Regnier who struck out but saw the third strike bounce away from Voelkl, allowing the go-ahead run to come in from third.

FGCU would put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the 12th but back-to-back strikeouts of Noll and Blake Berger (Jacksonville, Fla./Santa Fe College) by Tim Black secured the victory for CMU. The 12 innings game was the longest FGCU has played since it battled Western Michigan for 14 innings on Mar. 8, 2013. The starting pitchers for tomorrow’s 11:30 a.m. first pitch are yet to be determined.