NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Behind a combined two-hit shutout from starting pitcher Kenton Hering and reliever Sterling Koerner, No. 5 FGCU (25-31, 9-12 A-Sun) defeated No. 1 Kennesaw State (29-27, 17-4 A-Sun), 6-0, to stay alive in the A-Sun Tournament Thursday afternoon at Dugan Field.
 
Hering (3-2, 4.62) turned in a break-through performance as he pitched a career-high 6.1 scoreless innings while allowing only two hits with three walks and five strikeouts to earn the win. After entering the game with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) recorded the final eight outs of the game to preserve the win and earn his fourth save of the season.
 
The shutout was not only the first of the season for FGCU and their first since defeating then-No. 7 FSU on April 8 of last season, but also marked the first time a top seed has been shut out in the A-Sun Tournament since 2000. Additionally, the two hits allowed were the fewest in the conference championships since FGCU defeated Jacksonville behind a complete-game, two-hit shutout from Jack English in 2014.
 
"That was a heck of a team win today," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "We couldn't have asked for anything else out of Kenton, and Sterling was lights out in relief. Our bats came through when we needed them most, and I was proud of the guys for battling through adversity. It's one game at a time from this point on, and we'll see if we can keep it going tomorrow."
 
After Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State College) escaped a jam in the home half of the first, the Green and Blue got out to an early lead in the top of the next frame when Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) hit a RBI single back up the middle to score Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) from second.
 
The Melbourne, Fla., native then went on to retire 15 of the next 19 batters faced from the second through the sixth innings, while FGCU extended its lead to 5-0 behind a pair of runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. With two outs in the top half of the sixth, Stefano Belmonte (Chicago, Ill./South Suburban College) picked a good time to hit his first home run of the season as he sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-center to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Their next at-bat, the Eagles added a pair of insurance runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Jay Hayes (Altamonte, Fla./Lyman HS), who made an outstanding play in the field the inning before, and Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep), who extended his hit streak to 13 games. The two runs in the seventh were FGCU's fourth and fifth of the game, all of which came with two outs.
 
After Hering hit a pair of batters and walked another to load the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, Koerner entered the game in a tight spot but got out of the jam with only seven pitches as an infield fly and fly out to center field ended the inning with no damage done.
 
The FGCU offense plated a run for the third straight inning and extended its lead to 6-0 in the top of the eighth when Zachary Orchard (Cambridge, Ontario/Jacob Hespeler Secondary School) drove in Belmonte on a single to right field.

The six-run cushion was more than enough breathing room for Koerner, who faced the minimum in his 2.2 innings of relief and got a big 6-4-3 double play after hitting a batter in the bottom of the ninth to help close out the win.
 
Offensively, Belmonte led the way for the Green and Blue behind his two-run home run to go along with a double in the top of the eighth. Additionally, Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) went 3-for-5 with one runs scored while Orchard added a two-hit performance with a run scored and another driven in.
 
With the win, FGCU lives to see another day in Nashville as their opponent for tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET is yet to be determined. With a No. 3 Jacksonville win against No. 6 Stetson, the Eagles and Dolphins will face off in an elimination game Friday. With a Stetson win, Jacksonville will be eliminated from the tournament and FGCU will face the loser of tonight's matchup between No. 2 UNF and No. 4 Lipscomb.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 14 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 488-295-3 record (.623) 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.