TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (12-11) used a six-run top of the third inning to get itself going and ultimately claimed an 8-6 win against Florida A&M (14-7) Thursday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field.

The win not only improved FGCU's perfect mark against the Rattlers to 7-0, but was also the Green and Blue's eighth win in its last 11 games and got the team above .500 for the first time this season.

FGCU starter Brady Anderson (3-3, 3,32) earned his third straight win for the Eagles while Christian Townsend (Safety Harbor, Fla./Countryside HS) recorded his third save in the last week. Opposite the FGCU pitching staff, FAMU reliever Tyler Reker suffered the loss.

"That's a much improved baseball team in Florida A&M, and we had to play a good game to come away with a win," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "The third inning was obviously big for us after running ourselves out of a couple opportunities early, and our guys responded again. We left a couple balls up in the zone and over the plate, though, and they made us pay."

After falling behind on Brian Davis' three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, FGCU sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the third and plated six runs to claim a three-run lead from the home-standing Rattlers. The Green and Blue used a trio of hit batters and four RBI knocks, including a pair of two-RBI singles from Stefano Belmonte (Munster, Ind./South Suburban College) and Matt Roberts (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS), to jump out to a 6-3 lead.

However, Florida A&M responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame as Ben Ellzey and Jacky Miles Jr. hit back-to-back home runs to left field to cut FGCU's lead to 6-5. Then, in the home half of the fourth, the Rattlers tied the score at six when leadoff man Marlon Gibbs doubled down the left-field line to score AJ Elkins.

Both teams went down in order in the fifth, but FGCU broke a 6-6 tie in the top of the sixth as Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) doubled to left to score Roberts and Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) later drove him in on a single to center to cap off the scoring for the game.

After leaving a couple of pitches up in the zone and paying for them early in the game, Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) settled down nicely and allowed only two hits in his final 4.0 innings of work. The redshirt-senior went 8.0 innings for the third time this season before giving way to Townsend, who closed the door in the ninth.

A quartet of FGCU hitters turned in multi-hit performances, led by three-hit games from Reardon and Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS), who are both hitting over .415 in their last five games. Additionally, Reardon extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games, matching Noll's season-long streak from Feb. 21 to March 15. Noll and Roberts added two hits apiece for the Green and Blue, while Noll extended his career-high on base streak to 33 games and Roberts drove in a career-high two runs with one run scored.

The top three in the FGCU order (Reardon, Selesky and Noll) combined to go 8-for-13 with three runs scored and two RBI Thursday. 

Friday's schedule has been altered due to poor weather forcasts for this weekend and the two teams will now play a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

UP NEXT
The Eagles return to Swanson Stadium and play host to No. 19 FAU for a midweek matchup Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. FGCU holds a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series against the Owls, including a 4-4 mark at home, and have won two of the last three games.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 475-275-3 record (.633) 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.