BOX SCORE (PDF)
WP | Danny Garcia (2-0): 5.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
LP | Sterling Koerner (2-2): 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
SV | Bryan Garcia (3): 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

MIAMI, Fla. - The FGCU baseball team (5-8-1) collected 13 hits against No. 11 Miami's (9-4) nine but would come up short on the road, falling to the Hurricanes 7-2. The Eagles will have two more shots at Miami with the first taking place next Tuesday, March 10th at Swanson Stadium. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs at FGCU's home park.

Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carrol HS) made the first stat of his career on Wednesday night and struggled a bit over 2.2 innings on the hill, surrendering four earned runs, five total without striking out a batter after coming into the game with 26. He would, however, avoid any walks and still has yet to issue a free pass this season. Jack English (Delray Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) took over in the third and cruised through the next 4.0 innings in his best performance of the season by far. He would strike out four Hurricanes while giving up just one hit to hold off Miami in the middle innings. Three other FGCU relievers would combine to toss 1.1 innings and allow two more runs while walking six and striking out none.

Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) had the best game of his young career on Wednesday night, going 3-4 at the plate with a run scored. Brian Pruett (Sarasota, Fla./Coastal Carolina) also sprayed three hits and scored a run while Adam Eggnatz (Tampa, Fla./Middle Georgia College) and Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) each collected two. Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) would drive in two of FGCU's three runs and finish the night 1-5.

"We didn't pitch very well tonight," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We issued seven walks and just didn't pitch well overall. We hit well enough tonight to win and sooner or later we're going to put it all together. Right now there are nights we pitch well and not hit and nights we hit well and not pitch."

With Koerner on the mound, Carl Chester singled to lead off and promptly stole second. A fly out would put Chester on third and a ground out for the second out of the innings would bring him in for the first score of the ball game. Preseason All-American Zack Collins would take the next pitch out of Koerner's hand deep over the center field wall for his second homerun of the season to push Miami ahead 2-0 early.

The Eagles would go down in order in the second and bring the Hurricanes back to the plate who would continue to roll. With one out, Edgar Michelageli singled to right bringing up Sebastian Diaz who singled as well. Brandon Lopez then singled to left and advanced to second when Spivey bobbled the ball trying to make a throw. One run would come in to score on the play and Chester would ground out to drive in the second run of the frame next. Koerner would work around any further damage to keep the Miami lead at 4-0.

Spivey led off the top of the third with a single up the middle. Pruett then came to the plate and laid down a bunt that drifted deep enough beyond the UM pitcher that he was able to beat out the play and put two runners on for Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla/Charlotte HS). Noll ripped a hard single to left but Spivey would be thrown out at home trying to score from second for the first out of the inning. Bottomley came to the plate with runners on first and third and drilled a double down the line in right, driving in both runners to cut the lead in half, 4-2, pushing his team-leading RBI total to 14.

With out one, Collins tripled down the right field line and came in to score on the subsequent single by Willie Abreu who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Koerner would pick up a groundout for the second out before being replaced by English who limited the damage to just one run in the third.

Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) singled to lead off the fourth and with one out, Spivey drove his second hit of the game to center bringing up Pruett who singled as well to load the bases for the Green and Blue. Bottomley then came to the plate following a Noll pop out in another RBI opportunity but he would strikeout on a 3-2 offering to end the threat.

No one would light up the scoreboard again until Miami came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Brady Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) would start the inning on the mound and surrender a leadoff triple to Johnny Ruiz. Chester would walk with one out to put runners on the corners then two wild pitches and a pass ball would allow both runners to come in and score, pushing Miami up 7-2. Jordan Desguin (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) would relieve Anderson and work out of the rest of the eighth.

Spivey and Pruett put together back-to-back hits to lead off the ninth but Pruett would get picked off at first with Noll at the plate. Noll would bounce out to short for the second out of the inning but Spivey would later score from third on a wild pitch to make it 7-3. The rally would end there however and Miami would come away with the 7-3 victory. 

DAVE TOLLETT
In 12 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 439-246-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four A-Sun Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 35 All-Conference selections, 22 draft picks, 14 current minor leaguers, four A-Sun Pitchers of the Year, three All-Americans, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one MLB All-Star.

#WINGSUP
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#FEEDFGCU
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