Friday, May 28, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After relinquishing a seven-run lead within a span of three innings, ETSU fought back to knock out top-seeded FGCU from the 2010 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship with a 12-10 victory from Ken Dugan Field on the campus of Lipscomb University.

Player of the Year Paul Hoilman provided the bulk of the early offense for ETSU (32-27) crushing a three-run double in the top of the second then clubbing his conference-leading 25th home run in the fourth, which gave the Buccaneers a 9-2 advantage. Hoilman entered Friday with only one hit in his first seven at bats in Championship play but bolstered his RBI count to 84, tying Mercer’s Jacob Tanis for the conference lead.

Read the Atlantic Sun Insider Column from ETSU's victory HERE.

FGCU (38-20) began its comeback in the bottom half of the fourth inning, starting with a two-out walk to Mikel Alvarez. Tim Roberson followed with a single in front of Zach Maxfield. The Second Team choice swatted his 11th home run of the year to pull the Eagles to within four, 9-5.

The Eagles batted around in the home half of the sixth inning, scoring five times to take a short-lived 10-9 lead. Austin Gaines drove home two with a triple and scored the tying run on a Joe Smierciak single. With Smierciak at third, Alex Lozada successfully executed a squeeze bunt to cap the rally.

Following the bunt, ETSU brought Chas Byrne in for the third time in as many contests. He shut down the potent Eagle bats over the final 3.2 innings allowing just a ninth-inning double to improve his record to 5-6. FGCU’s Pete Woodworth struggled, allowing seven runs in 2.1 innings. In the Eagles’ two losses this week, the starters allowed 14 earned runs in 5.1 innings of worth.

The win broke a nine-game win streak FGCU held against ETSU. During their three-game series in the regular season, the Eagles had outscored the Buccaneers by a 37-15 margin. FGCU’s elimination represents the first time since Jacksonville in 2006, but the seventh time in the last 16 Championships, that the top seed failed to win at least two games.

The Buccaneers have to turn around quickly for a rematch with Mercer at 7:00 p.m. CT later Friday. The Eagles must now wait to see if they will hear their name called during Monday’s NCAA Championship selection show. ESPN will air the unveiling at 12:30 p.m. All the action will be broadcast, free of charge, on ASun.TV.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.