FORT MYERS, Fla. – After coming alive offensively in a series win against Quinnipiac last weekend, the FGCU bats stayed hot as the Eagles (8-9) registered a 9-6 win in the first of two games against Rutgers (6-9) Tuesday evening at Swanson Stadium.

FGCU jumped out to a 4-0 lead after Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) hit a three-run home run over the right-center field fence in the bottom of the second inning and never looked back. The Scarlet Knights cut the lead to 4-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third, but that's as close as they would get as the Eagles scored two more in the home half of the fourth and three in the sixth.

Parker Hamilton (2-1, 8.40) earned the win in relief as he matched a career-high with 3.0 innings pitched while Garrison Vandeventer (Ocala, Fla./North Marian HS) recorded his second consecutive save. Opposite the FGCU pitching staff, Rutgers starter Serafino Brito (2-2, 6.35) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) and recording only five outs in the game.

"We swung the bats well tonight, but there's still room for improvement after leaving double-digit runners on base again," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "Take away the one long ball, and Lang pitched well while Garrison looked good again tonight. We're moving in the right direction."

The Eagles took advantage of a Rutgers fielding miscue in the bottom of the first inning and loaded the bases with one out. After the Scarlet Knights cut down a run with a force out at home, Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) got things going with a RBI single through the right side of the infield that scored Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS). Noll then followed a Matt Roberts (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS) double and Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) bunt single with his fifth home run in the last seven games to give FGCU a four-run cushion.

The Scarlet Knights narrowed the lead to 4-2 in the top of the third when left fielder Jawuan Harris hit a two-run shot to left-center off FGCU starter Ryan Lang (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS), who pitched the first 3.0 innings with the home run as his only blemish.

FGCU took advantage of another Rutgers fielding error in the home half of the fourth inning and got the two runs right back as Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC) and Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) each drove in a run.

After retiring the first six batters he faced, Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS) allowed a run in the top of the sixth after R.J. Devish hit a leadoff single and scored four pitches later when Chris Suseck hit a RBI double to center field. However, Suseck was cut down on a nice relay throw from Morey to Noll to Selesky as he tried to stretch the double into a triple and Hamilton was able to minimize the damage.

After FGCU extended its lead to 9-3 with a trio of runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-RBI, ground-rule double by Selesky and RBI triple from Spivey, Hamilton allowed back-to-back singles to start the seventh and was relieved by right hander Clint Knoblauch (Wellington, Fla./Wellington HS) with runners on first and second and nobody out. A one-out walk to Harris then loaded the bases before Devish drove in a pair on a two-RBI double down the left-field line. Knoblauch then gave way to Vandeventer after Suseck hit a sacrifice fly to left field, and the stocky right hander retired Tom Marcinczyk to end the inning.

The Ocala, Fla. native held the Scarlet Knights scoreless in the last 2.1 innings and was near perfect in doing so as he allowed no hits with one walk and two strikeouts. In his last two outings and 5.1 innings pitched, Vandeventer hasn't allowed a run while surrendering only two hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Selesky led the way offensively for FGCU as he turned in a 4-for-5 night with a pair of doubles, one run and three RBI. Additionally, Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS), Fehribach and Spivey turned in multi-hit games for the Green and Blue.

The second and final game of the two-game, midweek series is scheduled for tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium. FGCU will send right hander Kenton Hering (0-0, 15.43) to the mound to oppose Rutgers southpaw Dante Scafidi (2-0, 3.09).  

GAME NOTES
- Since being shutout in game two of a three-game series against Bethune Cookman, FGCU has won five of seven games and scored 67 runs on 83 hits.
- Noll, who earned A-Sun Player of the Week honors Monday, entered the week ranked tied for second in the NCAA in hits (30) and tied for ninth in RBI (23).
- He extended his hit streak to 15 games and has now reached base in a career-high 27 consecutive games dating back to the last 10 games of 2016.
- After hitting three home runs in the first 126 games of his career, Noll has hit five round-baggers in his last seven games.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 471-273-3 record (.632) 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 39 All-Conference selections, 25 draft picks, 16 current minor leaguers, four A-Sun Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one MLB All-Star.

FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the baseball team on Twitter @FGCU_Baseball, Instagram @FGCU_Baseball or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUBaseball. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.