NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With a number of teams battling for conference seeding as the season nears its end, the FGCU baseball team (24-26, 9-9 A-Sun) claimed a 7-4 win in an ever important A-Sun matchup against Lipscomb (26-25, 9-9 A-Sun) Sunday afternoon at Dugan Field.
 
With the win, FGCU claimed its first series in Nashville since 2010. Additionally, with Stetson's loss at Kennesaw State, the Eagles move into a tie for fourth in the current conference standings and hold the tiebreaker over both the Hatters and Bisons.
 
FGCU starter Kenton Hering (2-1, 5.84) earned the win, while Kyle Kemp (2-2, 6.18) suffered the loss for Lipscomb. Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State College) tossed a season-high 5.0 innings and struck out a season-high seven batters while allowing two runs on four hits with one walk.
 
Lipscomb was able to put together a miniature rally in the bottom of the ninth as they scored a pair of runs on a RBI groundout from Hunter Hanks and single from Lee Solomon, but redshirt-senior Clint Knoblauch (Wellington, Fla./Wellington HS) recorded the final out of the game to preserve the win.
 
"It's a jam-packed conference race, and we helped ourselves out with a couple of tough road wins this weekend," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "I was proud of the way the guys responded from a dramatic loss in game one. We came into the weekend with a by-committee concept in mind for our pitchers in these last two games, but Kenton followed Mario's performance with another good outing and we were able to preserve some arms."
 
After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, FGCU took a 2-0 lead in its next at-bat when Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) hit a two-out double that dropped down the left-field line and scored a pair.
 
Lipscomb threatened to cut into the Eagles' lead in the home half of the frame as they put runners on the corners with one out. However, third baseman Tyler Selesky (Estero, Fla./Estero HS) made a nice play on a ground ball and cut down Allan Hooker at the plate.
 
Smith kept things going in his next at-bat as he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Zachary Orchard (Cambridge, Ontario/Jacob Hespeler Secondary Score), who led off the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Kemp.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Solomon hit a two-RBI triple down the right-field line to cut the Eagles lead to 3-2. FGCU answered immediately, though, as Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) hit a two-out double down the left-field line before Smith drove him in on a single up the middle. After Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) reached on a dropped third strike to extend the inning, Selesky continued his power surge as he hit a three-run home run over the scoreboard in right field. It was Selesky's 10th home run of the season and fifth in his last six games.
 
After entering the season with four combined home runs in their FGCU careers, Noll and Selesky have totaled 21 long balls this season and become the first Eagle duo with 10 or more home runs in the same season since Tim Roberson (13) and Zach Maxfield (11) did so in 2010.
 
Offensively, all seven of FGCU's runs came with two outs as the Eagles went 5-for-13 from the plate in the category. Along with his career high four RBI, Smith extended his hit streak to nine games and has recorded multiple hits in six contests during the streak. With seven runs on seven hits in today's contest, the Green and Blue has recorded 77 runs on 96 hits in its last seven games.
 
On the mound, FGCU struck out double digit batters in back-to-back games for the first time this season as Ryan Lang (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) complimented Hering's total with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.

NEXT UP
The Eagles travel to Coral Gables, Fla., for the second time this season to cap off their three-game series with No. 3 Miami (40-9, 19-6 ACC) Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will mark FGCU's seventh against a top-five opponent this season. In two games vs. Miami prior to this week, the Hurricanes emerged victories, 6-2, at Mark Light Field March 2 before the two teams met again at Hammond Stadium April 5 with Miami claiming a 4-0 win.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 13+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 487-290-3 record (.626) 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.