FGCU clobbers 4 home runs, blanks Jacksonville in ASUN baseball tournament opener

DELAND — The nation's leader in longballs, Florida Gulf Coast put a couple of small dents into Melching Field's expensive new video board — and a potentially significant one into Jacksonville's hopes of advancing beyond pool play at the ASUN baseball championship.

Alejandro Figueredo and Stephen Wilmer socked home runs in a tide-turning, three-run fourth inning, and the second-seeded Eagles (39-17) defeated fourth-seeded Jacksonville 7-0 in the middle game of Tuesday's conference tournament tripleheader.

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Trevor Kole curled a solo homer around the foul pole in right to lead off the fifth, his first of the season, and Joe Kinker crushed a curveball for a two-run shot in the seventh. As a team, the Eagles upped their dinger total to 129. They entered the day six clear of Maryland (119) for the highest mark in Division I.

"That is just who we are," FGCU coach Dave Tollett said. "We're a walk and a home run away from being in just about anything. One through eight can leave the yard."

Making just his second start in his 19th appearance this season, senior right-hander LJ McDonough held Jacksonville's hitters in check for the majority of the afternoon. He worked out of trouble in the first, loading the bases with a pair of hit batsmen and a walk before coaxing a harmless groundout from Josh Steidl.

"My mindset was there. I was ready to attack from the first pitch," McDonough said. "Coach Tollett believes in me, my teammates believe in me and I wanted the ball. I went out there and performed, and gave it my all."

McDonough settled in from there, scattering three hits and five walks in six-plus scoreless frames. Jacksonville (33-23) stranded nine men on base, squandering several quality opportunities to take the lead or keep the margin within reach.

Blake Barquin matched McDonough's zeroes and twice struck out ASUN Player of the Year Edrick Felix in the opening three innings. But Figueredo stung a first-pitch fastball that tailed across the outer half of the plate for an ice-breaking solo homer in the fourth.

Three batters later, Wilmer lifted a towering two-run shot well beyond the 365-foot marker in right center to provide immediate insurance. The senior made the day's key defensive play as well, tracking down a slicing fly ball off the bat of Tommy Joseph and firing a strike from left field to nail Justin Nadeau at the plate.

"LJ did his job, no real hard contact today," Wilmer said. "When it did get hit to me, I did my job."

Florida Gulf Coast, with a 6.03 staff ERA, registered its first shutout since its 13-0 season-opening victory over Hofstra on Feb. 17.

In earlier action, Liberty survived Lipscomb's ninth-inning rally to take down the top-seeded Bisons 12-11. Five Flames logged multi-hit outings, including John Simmons, who homered and drove in five RBIs.

Stetson, the tournament's host, will face Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. to close the opening day of games.

Lipscomb, Florida Gulf Coast, Liberty and Jacksonville are grouped into Pool A. The top three teams will move onto the semifinal round, where they will be joined by the Pool B winner — a quartet comprised of Stetson, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Austin Peay.

"Last year, we did not (win our opener), and it was a dogfight the rest of the way. Today was big for our club," Tollett said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: ASUN baseball tournament: Florida Gulf Coast defeats Jacksonville in pool play