FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU offense took advantage of nearly every opportunity it was given and led the #29 Eagles (28-10, 4-5 ASUN) to its first conference series win of the season with an 11-6 victory against USC Upstate (16-22, 2-7 ASUN) Saturday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.

After the visiting Spartans had clawed back into the game with three runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth the cut the FGCU lead to 7-6, the Green and Blue plated four insurance runs in the home half of the inning and cruised to the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Corey Fehribach (Douglasville, Ga./West Georgia CC/Alexander HS) led off the eighth with his second double of the game, advanced to third on a balk and scored the first of four runs in the frame on a sacrifice fly from Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County HS) – his third RBI of the game. From there, the USC Upstate defense struggled to get through the inning, and FGCU plated three more runs on three errors committed by the Spartans.

Redshirt junior pitcher Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Viera HS) entered a one-run ballgame with two outs in the seventh inning and recorded the final seven outs en route to earning his third save of the week and fourth of the season.

Both starting pitchers factored into the decision as Garrett Anderson (3-1, 3.10) earned the win, and his counterpart Blake Whitney (4-4, 6.80) suffered the loss. Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

"It was a big series win for us," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "We had to grind it out today. Our offense put together some key two-out hits, we took advantage of drawing some walks and were able to cut down on our strikeouts. We took advantage of every opportunity they gave us. We're right back at it after enjoying Easter with a couple of midweek games against FIU."

With Anderson holding Upstate scoreless on the mound, Fehribach started the bottom of the third with a leadoff double, and Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) followed a one-out walk from Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) with a three-run blast over the left-field fence to get the FGCU offense going. It was Rivera's team-best eighth home run of the season and 34th of his illustrious career.

The following inning, a leadoff walk after having Charlie Carpenter 0-2 came back to bite Anderson as he gave up a two-run home run to Russ Schwertfeger with two outs in the frame. It was Schwertfeger's second home run in as many games in the series.

However, FGCU responded and got one of the two runs back its lead in its next at-bat as Brait hit a two-out single back up the middle to score Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) from second and run USC Upstate starter Blake Whitney from the game.

USC Upstate threatened again in the top of the fifth as Devon Ortiz stood on third base with two outs, but Reardon made a nice back-handed play on a chopper up the middle to get Carpenter at first base and end the frame.

After back-to-back walks started the home half of the sixth and Fehribach dropped down a sac bunt to put a pair of runners in scoring position, Reardon brought both in on a double down the right-field line. Three batters later, after Rivera was intentionally walked to extend the inning, Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College (OK)/Brito Miami Private HS) hit a RBI single through the right side to extend the lead to 7-2.

However, the Spartans started the next half inning with a single and double and eventually got all three runs back. Much like Thursday night, Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) forced a number of ground balls and softly hit line drives, but USC Upstate was able to find the gaps in the FGCU defense and get right back in the game.

Hering then relieved Koerner with two outs in the seventh and got out of the inning by striking out Harris in three pitches. USC Upstate wouldn't go away, though, as the Spartans scratched another unearned run across in the top of the eighth. With two outs and a runner on second, Jake Bourke reached on an error by Gonzalez at short that also allowed Schwertfeger, who hit a leadoff double, to score on the play.

FGCU was able to blow things open with the aforementioned four-run eighth and cruise to the series win behind another strong effort from Hering in the backend of the bullpen.

Offensively, Fehribach and Rivera lead the way with a pair of multi-hit efforts. Fehribach capped off the game 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two doubles, while Rivera went 2-for-3 with one runs scored, three driven in and two walks. FGCU's 11 runs where its most since defeating Rutgers, 13-4, on Mar. 18.

UP NEXT
FGCU takes on cross-state foe FIU in a home-and-home midweek series Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Game one will be contested at Swanson Stadium before the two teams head across Alligator Alley for game two in Miami.

TICKETS
Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2017 FGCU baseball season are now sale. 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.

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 518-306-3 record (.626) 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, 15 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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.