NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Facing elimination for the second straight day, No. 5 FGCU (26-31, 9-12 A-Sun) received an impressive performance out of the bullpen from Garrett Anderson en route to defeating No. 4 and tournament host Lipscomb (31-27, 12-9 A-Sun), 8-6, Friday evening at Dugan Field.
 
Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) pitched 6.1 innings of relief and retired 19 of 23 batters faced, six via strikeouts. He allowed just one earned run on three hits as he improved to 2-2 on the season. Opposite the FGCU staff, Lipscomb starter Kyle Kemp suffered the loss and fell to 3-3.
 
With the win, the Eagles advance to the A-Sun Championship Semifinal for the third straight season and will have a rematch with No. 2 UNF Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. On the other hand, Lipscomb's season comes to an end after also dropping an extra-inning game to UNF earlier in the day.
 
"There's no quit in this ball club right now," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "We answered back every time they went ahead, and Garrett gave us the performance of maybe his career, definitely the season, He was absolutely outstanding. We're in this thing for at least another game and are just taking it one game at a time."
 
Lipscomb jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Adam Lee hit a two-run home run to left field to also bring in Lee Solomon. The Bisons then threatened again in their next at-bat, but, with runners on the corners and one out, FGCU starter Ryan Lang (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to get out of the jam unscathed.
 
After the strong defensive play in the field, FGCU turned in a big inning at the plate as they scored four runs in the top of the third. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) dropped a sacrifice bunt down the third-base line and Kemp made an errant throw to first that allowed both Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC) and Matt Roberts (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS) to score. The very next pitch, Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep) ripped a RBI double down the first base line, extending his hit streak to 14 games, before Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Smith later in the inning.
 
However, the Bisons reclaimed the lead as they scored three runs with two outs in the home half of the frame. After the first two batters of the inning were retired on fly-ball outs, Zeke Dodson hit a RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Lee before Tevin Symonette hit another two-run home to nearly the same spot over the left-field fence.
 
After both teams went scoreless in their next at-bats, the back-and-forth affair continued when FGCU tied the game in the top of the fifth on Stefano Belmonte's (Chicago, Ill./South Suburban College) sacrifice fly to right field to score Smith, who lead off the inning with a single up the middle. The Eagles then took back the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth. Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) was hit by a pitch to start the frame and came around to score on a pair of passed balls and a throwing error by Lipscomb catcher Chucky Vazquez. After Fehribach recorded his third hit of the game and was sacrificed to second base, Reardon drove him in on a double to left field and later scored on Belmonte's RBI single through the right side to give the Green and Blue a three-run cushion.
 
Lipscomb scratched a run across in the bottom of the ninth after Hunter Hanks led off the inning with a single and later scored on Solomon's groundout to short, but it was too little too late for the Bisons as FGCU claimed the two-run victory and lived to see another day.
 
Offensively, Fehribach's three hits led the way for the Green and Blue while Belmonte drove in a pair of runs for the second straight day. Additionally, Reardon and Smith both recorded a pair of hits. For Smith, it was his 10th multi-hit game during his current 14-game hit streak.

With a win against UNF tomorrow afternoon, the Eagles would advance to play No. 6 Stetson in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. ET. They would need two wins to be crowned champions, with an if necessary game Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 14 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 489-295-3 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.