FORT MYERS, FL—NJIT was undermined in its Atlantic Sun baseball series opener Friday night at Florida Gulf Coast, a 10-1 defeat, by a combination of three big offensive innings by the home team and difficulty for the Highlanders in cashing in scoring chances when they were at bat.
The Eagles (17-17 overall; 3-1 A-Sun) won for the fourth time in their last five games. NJIT, which is playing its first season as a member of one of NCAA Division I's top baseball conferences, dropped its fourth straight A-Sun game after winning its first two conference games. The Highlanders are 12-19 overall.
Florida Gulf Coast divided all of its scoring in three big innings. The Eagles struck three times in the bottom of the first inning to take control of the game early and then added three more runs in the third and four in the bottom of the seventh.
NJIT got its only run in the top of the second inning and ended up with 11 men left on base (FGCU stranded eight). The lack of scoring for the visitors could be traced to 1-for-10 hitting with runners in scoring position. FGCU, on the other hand, was 5-for-12 (.417) with runners in scoring position and 3-for-4 with runners on third base and less than two out.
The winning pitcher for Florida Gulf Coast was redshirt senior RHP Brady Anderson (5-4), while sophomore RHP
Sean Lubreski (4-4) started and took the loss for the Highlanders.
Anderson started for FGCU and pitched the first six innings, allowing seven of NJIT's eight hits and the only Highlander run. Three Eagles relievers finished the win, tossing a combined three scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
Lubreski, the NJIT starter, pitched 4.2 innings and allowed 11 hits and six runs. He was relieved first by sophomore LHP
Brian Sondergard, who worked a scoreless two-thirds of an inning. Freshman RHP
Brett Lubreski, Sean's younger brother, pitched next and he was charged with four runs in 1.2 innings, while sophomore RHP
Andres Fernandez allowed a hit and no runs in one inning's work.
FGCU banged out 14 hits, topped by three each for SS Matt Reardon and DH Corey Fehribach, who drove in four runs and hit the only Eagles home run, while Reardon and 1B Tyler Atwell each drove home a pair.
NJIT freshman RF
Michael Anastasia had a 3-for-4 night that included a double and CF
Jesse Uttendorfer was 2-for-5 and knocked in the only Highlander run.
The Highlanders left two runners on base in the top of the first inning and immediately paid the price for failing to score when the Eagles plated three in the bottom half, keyed by Fehribach's two-run, one-out single.
NJIT's only run scored in the top of the second inning, when Uttendorfer singled to bring in 2B
Johnny Malatesta, who had walked with one out and moved up on an Anastasia single and then to third on wild pitch.
The home team blew it open in the bottom of the third inning with three more runs, as Fehribach hit a two-run blast with no one out and Reardon later drove in the third run of the frame with a two-out single.
The winners tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Atwell hitting a two-run single, Reardon driving in the third run with a single and LF Zach Spivey capping the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Florida Gulf Coast has a top-flight Division I baseball program. Thirteen Eagles have been selected in the Major League Draft since the conclusion of the 2013 college season. Their most famous baseball alumnus is left-handed pitcher Chris Sale, who was taken in the first round of the 2010 draft by the Chicago White Sox and pitched in the major leagues later that year. Sale has finished in the top six voting for the American League Cy Young Award every season from 2012 through 2015.
This season, the Eagles have 17 losses, but nine are vs. teams either ranked in the national Top 25 or receiving votes for the Top 25. Before hosting NJIT, FGCU defeated #16 Florida Atlantic last Tuesday, 3-2.
The series will continue on Saturday with a 2 pm game.
