FORT MYERS, Fla. – An offensive explosion supported by one of the best individual performances in Jacksonville University baseball history propelled the Dolphins (13-32) to a 17-1 win over FGCU in the winner-take-all game three of the ASUN Baseball Championship Quarterfinal series on Sunday at Swanson Stadium.
 
Mike Cassala threw seven innings of five-hit, one-run baseball while going 2-3 with 4 RBI at the plate to help propel JU to the final four of the tournament that starts next Thursday at North Florida's Harmon Stadium.
 
"I'm just happy for the guys to be able to put together a complete baseball game," said Head Coach Chris Hayes. "We've fought through a lot this year and these guys have made it through and remained positive."
 
The strong start set the tone for the game, as Ruben Someillan roped a double to right center to lead it off. Dakota Julylia was hit by a pitch and Christian Coipel singled to load the bases for Cassala, who poked a single to left to drive in the first two runs of the game. After a bunt moved the runners over, Elias Flowers drove in two more to put the Dolphins up 4-0 and chase the Eagles starters before the morning dew had even dried on the grass.
 
FGCU got one back in the bottom half, but JU answered in the second and never looked back. Someillan walked to lead off the inning, went to third on a Coipel double and scored on Cassala's sacrifice fly to build the advantage back to four, 5-1.
 
Duncan Hunter hit a solo home run in the third, and the game blew open in the fourth. Eleven men came to the plate for JU, with five of them scoring on just two hits. A run scored on a wild pitch, Jackson Grabsky took a bases loaded walk, Cassala drove in another with an opposite field single and Someillan knocked in a pair to extend the lead out to double-digits, 11-1.
 
Cassala stranded men in scoring position in the first three innings, doing everything in his power to fuel the JU effort, including a diving effort off the mound to stop a grounder and get the out at first to end the second inning, emblematic of his effort on the day.
 
The Dolphins loaded the bases again in the sixth, with Julylia driving in two to make it 13-1. The seventh inning started with two on quickly again, and Grabsky shooting an RBI into the outfield, Someillan working around to score on a passed ball and Julylia driving in his third of the day to push the lead to 16-1. Stephen Moffatt added a pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth to build the final margin.
 
Cassala exited after the seventh, with Sam Brunnig and Adrian Garrastazu throwing consecutive scoreless innings to end it.
 
ON DECK
 
Jacksonville plays Liberty, the #1 seed from the North Division, in the opening day of the ASUN Baseball Championship final four on Thursday at 11 a.m. at North Florida's Harmon Stadium.

COACH'S COMMENTS

 

THREE STRIKES (plus three)
 

• The Dolphins hit .417 (10-24) with runners in scoring position and .583 (7-12) with a runner on third and less than two outs on the day
• Mike Cassala collected his first multi-RBI game of the year, with his four driven in as the second most in a game for JU this season
• Cassala also pitched the longest outing of his career, his seven innings besting the 6.2 he lasted in a win over Stetson on the road back on May 2
• The 17 runs scored were the most in a game for JU since a 17-6 win at Lipscomb on April 8, 2018
• It was the most runs scored in an ASUN Postseason game since 2004, and tied for the sixth-largest run differential in the tournament's history
• Ruben Someillan's leadoff double, one of five times he reached base on the day, extended his on-base streak to all 45 games the Dolphins have played this year