Ft. Myers, Fla. – An error in the eighth inning of a tie game on Saturday afternoon opened the door for Florida Gulf Coast to steal a victory from Stetson, and the Eagles' Jake Noll made the mistake count, driving in the go-ahead run in a 4-2 FGCU victory at Swanson Stadium.

The win clinches the series for the Eagles (15-16, 2-0) and puts off for yet another day a milestone victory for Hatters head coach Pete Dunn. Stetson fell to 16-5 overall, 0-2 in Atlantic Sun Conference play with the loss.

The Hatters will try to salvage the final game of the weekend series on Sunday afternoon when the teams square off at 1 p.m.

Stetson appeared to have a hold on things Saturday after scoring runs in each of the first two innings against FGCU starter Garrett Anderson. Cory Reid's solo home run in the first got things started and then John Fussell doubled to open the second and then scored on a ground out by Austin Hale.

That was it for the Hatters, who managed just seven hits in the game off Anderson and reliever Sterling Koerner (2-3). Fussell had three of those Stetson hits, including a pair of doubles, but the four batters behind him in the lineup went a combined 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts.

Still, with the early lead in his pocket, Stetson sophomore Brooks Wilson went about his business on the mound. He surrendered four singles through the first four innings, but got a pair of double-play grounders to avoid any scoring threats.

That changed in the fifth with FGCU's Zach Spivey delivered a one-out single, moved up on a walk and then scored on a single by No. 9 hitter Gage Morey. That run snapped a streak of 14.1 scoreless innings for Wilson. Another double play got the Hatters out of further trouble in the frame.

In the sixth inning, FGCU's Tyler Selesky reached on a throwing error by Matt Morales, moved up on a balk and a single by Noll before scoring the tying run on yet another double play.

The Eagles threated to take the lead in the seventh, but with a runner and second and one out, senior Josh Thorne (2-1) came on out of the pen to squelch the FGCU threat.

In the eighth, Matt Reardon led off with a ground ball that second baseman Jack Machonis was unable to handle and Selesky followed with a hit-and-run single through the left side to put runners at first and third.

Stetson closer Walker Sheller was called in to try to get out of the jam, but Noll greeted him with a solid single to center on his very first pitch to score Reardon with the go-ahead run. After getting a strikeout and then hitting a batter to load the bases, Sheller got catcher Matt Roberts to top a ball toward third base but, in his haste to make a play, Sheller was unable to field it cleanly, allowing a second run to score.

Another double play, the fifth of the game for Stetson, ended the threat, but Koerner put the Hatters down in order in the ninth to preserve the FGCU win.

Noll finished with three hits in the game, after getting a career-high five on Friday night, to lead FGCU. Roberts and Spivey had two hits each. In addition to Fussell's three hits, the Hatters got two from Morales. Overall, the Hatters struck out 10 times in the game.