WILMINGTON, N.C. – The FGCU baseball team came into Saturday afternoon's matchup looking to extend their win-streak to five games, and did exactly that as the Eagles knocked off UNC Wilmington (3-6), 5-1, at Brooks Field.

With the win, FGCU improved to 9-2 for the first time since the team went 11-2 to start the 2008 season. Head coach Dave Tollett is now one win shy of hitting the 500-win plateau, as he improves to 499-298-3 all-time in his career at FGCU.  The 5-game win-streak is also the longest Eagles win-streak since the 2015 season.

The Green and Blue came out strong, opening up with two hits that led to the game's first run. Junior infielder Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) slapped a single up the middle to get the Eagles started.  Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Brito Miami Private HS) followed that by knocking a 1-0 pitch to left-center field for a double, and Reardon scampered home after a fielding error by the Seahawks.

From there, the score remained 1-0 until the top of the third, when FGCU senior Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) crushed a homer to center field. The solo bomb was his team-leading third of the season and the 29th of his career.

While both teams threatened for the next few innings, it wasn't until the top of the seventh that the Eagles were able to muster some additional runs.

Rivera and Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep), who had a home run in yesterday's win, both hit singles to lead off the inning. After UNC Wilmington pitcher Levi Gesell was able to strike out the red-hot Levine and induce a Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC/Alexander HS) pop-up in foul territory, it appeared the Seahawks might escape the inning without any damage. However, Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) came through for the Green and Blue, as he knocked a 1-1 pitch to right-center field for the 2-run, 2-out double that scored both Rivera and Smith.

That would be more than enough for FGCU starting pitcher Kutter Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Okeechobee HS) (3-0,1.42), who confounded the Seahawks batters for the duration of his start. There were a few tense moments early, as UNC Wilmington loaded the bases in the second inning with nobody out, thanks in part to an FGCU defensive miscue. However, the junior pitcher never panicked, and proceeded to record a strikeout, foul out, and ground out to escape the inning without allowing any runs.

The Seahawks threatened again in the fifth, as they put runners on first and third with merely one out. However, Crawford was able to get UNC Wilmington's left fielder Ryan Jeffers to ground on an unconventional 1-6-3 double play to end the frame. Crawford ended his afternoon by retiring the final seven batters he faced, and the 6-1 right-hander also struck out three of the last five batters. Crawford finished with no earned runs, no walks and an impressive seven strikeouts in a flawless 7.0 innings pitched.

"Kutter came out and did his thing for the third straight weekend," Tollet said. "These have been a couple of huge road wins against a team that was a few outs from going to a Super Regional last year. Our guys our sticking to the game plan of late, and it's been paying off. We'll be right back trying to finish this thing off tomorrow."

Both teams added another run in the eighth inning. Reardon walked to get on base, and proceeded to steal second and advance to third on an error.  Gonzalez followed with a deep sacrifice fly to bring home the speedy Reardon.

The Seahawks finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning, recording a couple of two-out hits off reliever Kenton Hering (Melnourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State College/Viera HS) to collect their first run of the game, but in the end it was too little, too late. Hering was able to work a perfect ninth inning, striking out a pair of batters to seal the victory for the Eagles.

Offensively, the Eagles received contributions throughout their lineup, as eight of nine Eagles in the starting lineup recorded a hit.  From a pitching perspective, Crawford and Hering combined for 11 strikeouts and allowed only eoght hits, while walking no one over the course of nine innings.

UP NEXT
First pitch for the third and final game of the series at UNC Wilmington is scheduled for Sunday at noon. FGCU will send southpaw Josh Dye (Deland, Fla./Deland HS) (2-0, 2.25) to the mound to square off with Seahawks' right hander Logan Beehler (0-1, 7.56).

2017 SCHEDULE
The Eagles' schedule features eight teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Base­ball Tournament including a pair of College World Series participants in preseason #2 Florida and preseason #8 Miami along with Super Regional participant and preseason #3 FSU. The five remaining NCAA Tournament teams include defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State, defending ASUN Tournament Champion Stetson, defending CAA Champion UNC Wilmington, defending C-USA Champion FAU and defending MEAC Tournament Champion Bethune-Cookman. Twenty-six of FGCU's first 30 games will be contested in Southwest Florida with 24 games scheduled to be played at Swanson Stadium and two additional games at JetBlue Park, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox. From Feb. 24 through Mar. 15, the Eagles are scheduled to play 13 consecutive games against five of the aforementioned NCAA Tournament teams.

TICKETS
Single game and season ticket packages for the 2017 FGCU baseball season are now on sale. Season tickets for games contested at Swanson Stadium can be purchased for $99, while single game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (12 and under), military and groups. For questions or more information, please contact the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145. Additonally, tickets for games versus preseason #2 Florida and preseason #3 FSU can be purchased online by clicking here or by calling the JetBlue Park Ticket Office at 239-334-4700.

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.

DAVE TOLLETT
In his 15th season of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 499-298-3 record (.624) as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 42 All-Conference selections, 27 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 19 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, two ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one five-time MLB All-Star.

#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.