ESTERO — The Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles brought down the Big Ten Conference’s Michigan Wolverines in
Wednesday night baseball, 6-4. Eagles freshman Harrison Cooney earned his first career win in front of 851 at Swanson Stadium.
Junior right-hander Jacob Barnes pitched three solid innings retiring six of the first seven batters to start the game for FGCU (4-4). He threw two scoreless innings before giving up an unearned run in the third on three hits.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard first. Stephen Wickens singled and then scored on Tim Roberson’s two-run shot over the left field fence in the first. It was the first homer of the season for Roberson and FGCU.
In the second, Jake Foley singled to bring catcher Mike Reeves home from second. FGCU tacked on a fourth run in the third. Brandon Bednar doubled to right-center to score Andrew Valencia from second.
Left-hander Alex Norris relieved Barnes in the fourth, but quickly left the game after loading the bases without recording an out.
Dave Tollett’s pitching change had purpose, the coach said.
“His last outing was not a good outing, so we wanted to get him out there no matter what, so he can forget about it and we can move on,” Tollett said.
Ricky Knapp stepped to the mound striking out the first two batters he faced. Knapp nearly got out of the inning unscathed allowing one unearned run on a walk before getting the final batter to ground out to second.
Michigan (0-8) tied the game in the sixth at 4-4, but the Eagles retook the lead in the home half after Mikel Alvarez scored from first on a Zach Maxfield double. Bobby Greene, who replaced Reeves at catcher, belted a solo home run to put FGCU up 6-4 in the seventh.
Right-hander Craig Crumbly pitched two scoreless innings, and Austin Gaines closed it out in the ninth for the save.
“It’s a big win for our program especially because we haven’t gotten off to a great start,” Tollett said. “We’ve had two big wins in a row, so maybe we can keep this thing rolling.”
Before the game, FGCU awarded Duane Swanson Sr. with an honorary letter for 2011. Swanson is the namesake of the Eagles’ home field.
Photo courtesy of Naples Daily News
Katie Donnellan 
Posted on March 3, 2011
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