FORT MYERS, Fla. – Behind a three-run third inning and solid pitching for the majority of the night, the FGCU baseball team (11-11) improved to .500 for the first time this season as they defeated USF (12-10) by a final margin of 4-3 Tuesday night at Swanson Stadium.

With the win, FGCU not only completed a season sweep of the Bulls in the home-and-home series after also claiming a 13-6 win in Tampa on Feb. 23, but the Green and Blue also improved to 10-4 and have now won four of the last five in the all-time series with the in-state rival.

Mario Leon (2-1, 3.71) pitched a career-high 6.1 innings and did not allow an earned run en route to claiming the win for FGCU, while running mate Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS), who returned to his familiar role out of the bullpen last week, recorded his first save of the season after pitching the final 2.2 innings in near-perfect fashion. Opposite the FGCU staff, Brad Labozzetta, a former teammate of the Eagle upperclassman, suffered the loss for USF.

"It feels good to get a win behind some solid pitching," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "Mario had as good of command as we have seen from him this season, and Sterling is definitely comfortable coming out of the bullpen. We were able to get the big inning to jump out in front, and it proved to be all that we needed."

With FGCU leading 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning, USF loaded the bases with nobody out after the first three batters reached on singles. However, Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) buckled down to strike out the Bulls' three-hole hitter, David Villar, before being relieved by Koerner. The Fort Pierce native then fired one pitch and got out of the inning unscathed as he forced cleanup hitter Duke Stunkel Jr. to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the lead.

Koerner was lights out in the final two innings as he allowed only one hit while striking out a pair. He recorded the final eight outs of the game while throwing an efficient 24 pitches.

USF capitalized on a FGCU fielding error and took the lead in the top of the third inning when Coco Montes scored from second on Tyler Dietrich's RBI single to center field. However, Leon did a good job of minimizing the damage as a pair of innings ended in ground-ball double plays.

The Green and Blue was quick to respond with three runs in the home half and took the lead for good. After Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) hit a leadoff double and Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) drew a walk to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 32 games, Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) ripped a two-RBI double into the left-center-field gap to put FGCU on the board. Then, in only his second at-bat of the season, Stefano Belmonte (Munster, Ind./South Suburban College) hit a RBI single into left field to bring in Bottomley.

FGCU added to its lead with a run in the next inning after Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) extended his hit streak to a career-high 14 games with a single to right field and was later driven in by Noll on a RBI groundout to shortstop, his conference-leading 32nd RBI of the season.

USF crept closer and again capitalized on a FGCU fielding miscue with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Montes scored from second and Dietrich reached on a ground-ball error that appeared to be an inning-ending double play and the Bulls put runners on the corners with one out. Then, leadoff man Kevin Merrell beat out a slow roller to first base that scored Garrett Zech and made it a one-run game.

However, that's as close as USF would get as FGCU held the Bulls scoreless in the final four frames and secured its seventh win in the last 10 games.

Offensively, Selesky and Bottomley continued to be a thorn in the sides of USF pitchers as the duo went a combined 12-for-19 with six runs scored, four doubles and six RBI in two games against the Bulls this season. In his four-year career, Selesky is a .448 hitter (13-for-29) against the in-state rival.

UP NEXT
FGCU hits the road for a three-game weekend series against Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. Due to the holiday weekend, game one is scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m., while game two will take place Friday and 5 p.m. followed by the series finale Saturday at noon. The Eagles are 6-0 all-time against the Rattlers and swept them in a three-game series at Swanson Stadium in 2014.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 474-275-3 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.