Eagles baseball claims series with 11-6 win over USC Upstate

FORT MYERS, Fla. The FGCU baseball team won its first A-Sun conference series Saturday afternoon with an 11-6 victory over the University of South Carolina Upstate.

The two teams entered the game tied in the series with one game apiece.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when freshman Alex Brait scored blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence to score seniors Corey Fehribach and Nick Rivera, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

But the Spartans responded with two runs of their own the following inning after Eagles pitcher Garrett Anderson walked Charlie Carpenter, then gave up a two-run home run to Russ Schwertfeger, narrowing FGCU’s lead 3-2.

The Eagles then extended their lead 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out RBI single from Brait to score junior Eli Lovell.

After two consecutive walks in the bottom of the sixth, Fehriback laid down a sacrifice bunt that placed runners in scoring position. Then, junior Matt Reardon ripped a double down the right-field line to bring both runners home. Later in the inning, after Rivera was intentionally walked, junior Juliio Gonzalez hit an RBI single to increase the Eagles’ lead 7-2.

The Spartans battled back the next inning and added three runs to the scoreboard, as well as an unearned run in the top of the eighth, making a 7-6 ballgame.

However, FGCU’s offense came alive in the eighth and scored four runs, sealing the 11-6 win over the Spartans.

The Eagles will take on FIU for a midweek series next Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The first game will be played at Swanson Stadium and the second in Miami.