JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – After scoring two or more runs in three of the first four innings, the FGCU baseball team (9-10) held ETSU (8-9) scoreless in the final six innings and claimed a 7-4 win in the series opener against the Buccaneers Friday night at Thomas Stadium.

The win marked FGCU's fifth straight against the former A-Sun opponent as the Eagles improved to 17-6 in the all-time series.

In what appeared to be a high-scoring game after the early innings, Brady Anderson (2-3, 2.48) earned his second straight win for FGCU and allowed four runs on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 8.0 innings pitched. Christian Townsend (Safety Harbor, Fla./Countryside HS) pitched a near-perfect ninth and earned the save for the Green and Blue.

"We were able to jump on them early and I was happy with the way we pitched in later innings to secure the win," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "We set the top of the lineup how we intended at the start of the season and they produced in a big way for us tonight. Brady got off to a rocky start but settled down nicely and was the leader we know."

Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) continued a torrid stretch from the plate and got FGCU on the scoreboard by following Tyler Selesky's (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) double with a two-run home run in the opening frame, marking his sixth home run in the last nine games.

However, it didn't take long for ETSU to respond with a pair of runs in the home half to tie the score, 2-2. After Jeremy Taylor and Trey York reached on a leadoff single followed by a double, a pair of sacrifice flies from Hagen Owenby and Kevin Phillips knotted the game at two.

The back-and-forth effect continued as FGCU plated three runs on four hits in the next frame. Leadoff hitter Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) and Selesky each drove in a run with RBI singles while Noll followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to reclaim the lead, 5-2.

Both teams went scoreless in their next at-bats before the Buccaneers narrowed the FGCU lead to 5-4 with two more runs on a two-out rally in the bottom of the third. Christian Bailey and Lance Mays provided the scoring with back-to-back RBI singles.

The Eagles then took advantage of an ETSU fielding error and scored two more runs in the top of the fourth to cap off the scoring for the night. After Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) reached on an error by shortstop Robby McCabe, Reardon drove him in on a RBI double and later scored on Noll's second sacrifice fly and fourth RBI of the game.

Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) then found his groove and retired 16 of the last 20 batters he faced while pitching his final 5.0 innings in scoreless fashion after allowing four runs through three innings pitched.

Townsend entered the game in the ninth and closed the door, earning his first save of the season.

With his home run in the opening frame, Noll quickly extended his on-base streak to 29 games dating back to last season, matching Mike Reeve's 29-game on-base streak in 2013. The Punta Gorda native has now hit in 17 of 19 games this year. Additionally, Reardon went 2-for-5 on the night with a pair of RBI and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Selesky added a multi-hit game as FGCU's one through three hitters combined to go 5-for-12 with three runs scored and accounted for all seven RBI.

The second game of the weekend series has been changed to 1 p.m. due to potential inclement weather. FGCU will send the younger of the Anderson brothers, Garrett (0-0, 2.20) to make his second start of the season and third of his career. Anderson will opposed ETSU starter Lee Haeberle (1-0, 3.20).

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 472-274-3 record (.631) 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.