FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a 10-inning grind in the rubber match battle, the Jacksonville University Baseball team was defeated by Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, 8-7 at Swanson Stadium for the final game of the series. The Dolphins (16-19; 3-3) have split its conference series slate while the Eagles (19-18-1; 6-3) have won all three. 

Jacksonville would relish a five-run lead into the bottom half of the seventh. Led by home runs from JJ Gould (1-for-3) and Sam Armstrong (1-for-3) through four, the Dolphins grabbed an early lead. 

Austin Hays (1-for-5) singled to open the second frame and Armstrong would send his first home run of his career to break the tie. Gould, in a 3-2 count battle, drove the inside fastball, towering over the left field wall, a solo-shot and his second of the season. 

"We got off to a good start to start the game and JR and Stock had some of their best stuff on the mound," said head coach Tim Montez. "We had some good at-bats and production from the bottom portion of our lineup but unfortunately we weren't able to make the plays necessary to close out innings, and we made some mistakes defensively and on the base paths. You can expect these kind of series when you go through battles like that in conference. We took away some postives from the series and look to regain focus against Bethune-Cookman and head into another great weekend series with a very good North Florida team."

Justin Russell was extremely effective in his ninth start of the season; he went 6.2 IP and held the Eagles scoreless through six giving up just four hits. It was his longest outing since March 15 against Stamford where he went seven. The Dolphins ran into trouble in the seventh, when the Eagles put a five-run seventh inning together behind a five-hit inning. 

In his second appearance of the series, Spencer Stockton threw two innings of a shutout, a big moment for the freshman coming in the ninth when FGCU threatened with runners on the corners and the winning run 90-feet away. 

Battling back from a 3-0 count, Stockton painted the corners and got Colton Botttomley to strikeout, ending the threat and extending the fans with free baseball.

Heading to the 10th and re-energized, the Dolphins plated two runs. Cameron Gibson (3-for-5) led off with a single, and an Armstrong sacrifice-bunt would force an errant throw and Gibson would score all the way from first. Parker Perez (3-for-5) knocked his third hit of the game and Armstrong later scored on a wild pitch and the two run, two out inning had the visitors in control.

The Eagles would notch back-to-back singles to start the 10th and Stockton would induce a pop-out for the first out. A run would score after an RBI-single by Matt Reardon, 7-6 the score. After a walk to the next batter faced, Nick Rivera would knock the game-winning 2-RBI double into center field.

Angelo Amendolare (1-for-3) stole his 16th and 17th bags of the season, eclipsing his 16 total from all of last season. Connor Marabell (1-for-4) notched his 34th RBI of the season with a single in the seventh inning.

The Dolphins return to Jacksonville for midweek matchup with Bethune-Cookman at John Sessions Stadium before the cross-town rivalry begins with North Florida on Friday, April 17.

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