WILMINGTON, N.C. – FGCU founding head coach Dave Tollett earned his 500th win with the program as FGCU baseball (10-2) led from start to finish and defeated UNC Wilmington (3-7), 10-1, Sunday afternoon to complete the sweep of the homestanding Seahawks.

The sweep was FGCU's first on the road since 2014, and the win marks the Eagles' sixth straight, making it the longest since winning seven in a row during the same campaign. Additionally, the Green and Blue stay on pace with the 2008 squad and is one win shy of matching the best start to a season in Division I program history.

"This one feels really good," Tollett said of his 500th career win. "It's always nice to board the plane after a road trip with a sweep, and we were able to do that against a very competitive UNC Wilmington team. These guys are playing at a very high level right now, and we'll need to keep it up with the tough stretch that is the next few weeks. We're excited to get back to Fort Myers and get back to work." 

For the fourth consecutive game, the Eagles were able to score a run in the first inning. Red-hot Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) walked to open up the game, and he would work his way around to score later in the inning on a ground ball from Jake Smith (Windermere, Fla./Windermere Prep).

The Green and Blue went back to work in the third inning, as Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) reached base with one out on a hit by pitch. That was followed by Smith, who smacked a double to right center field to put two on with only one out. After Levine grounded out, Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC/Alexander HS) came through with a clutch two-out double to score Rivera and Smith.

There would be no more scoring until the seventh, as the Eagles stellar pitching continued, this time at the hands of Josh Dye (Deland, Fla./Deland HS). The 6'5 lefty was dominant for the Eagles, going a career best 6.1 innings while only allowing one run, striking out four and walking none. The sophomore claimed his third victory of the season, and saw his ERA drop to an impressive 1.96 on the season.

Dye nearly ran into some trouble early, as two of the first three batters he faced singled. UNC Wilmington junior Mason Berne grounded to shortstop to move the runners to second and third.  With the Seahawks threatening, Dye coaxed sophomore Clark Cota into another groundball to Reardon to escape the jam.

Dye then retired the following six batters before another pair of singles in the fourth. However, the sophomore quickly forced a fly out and strikeout to leave the inning unscathed.

FGCU was able to squeeze another run across in the top of the seventh as Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Brito Miami Private HS) slapped a single up the middle to score Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS).

The Seahawks would respond with their only run of the game in the bottom of the frame as senior Casey Golden tagged Dye for a solo home run. The blast would prove to be the only blemish on the day for the Eagles, as Christian Townsend (Safety Harbor, Fla./Countryside HS) pitched a scoreless final 2.2 innings to close out the weekend sweep.

The Green and Blue weren't done though. In the eighth inning, both Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) and Reardon belted home runs to add to the Eagles' lead. In the ninth, FGCU sent eight different batters to the plate en route to notching three more runs, capped off by a two-out, two-run single from Morey.

In three games against the Seahawks, the FGCU trio of Garret Anderson (1-0, 2.45), Kutter Crawford (3-0, 1.42) and Dye combined to throw 18.1 innings and allow only two earned runs. More impressively, the stellar numbers on the mound came against the nation's eighth-ranked offense from a season ago.

UP NEXT
FGCU takes on #2 Florida in a pair of midweek matchups. The Eagles and Gators square off at JetBlue Park, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before making the trip to Gainesville for game two the following day.

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 500-298-3 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.