CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Riding its third winning streak of six or more games, FGCU (34-16, 10-8 ASUN) travels across Alligator Alley for the final time this season and looks to finish off a season sweep against Miami (25-26, 13-13 ACC) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field.
 
The Green and Blue are scheduled to start right hander Peyton Gray (3-2, 4.71) while Miami will send fellow righty Evan McKendry (3-2, 3.68) to the mound.
 
Those unable to make it to Coral Gables can track the game via live stats or watch the online stream on ACC Network Extra.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Miami holds a 16-4 advantage in the all-time series, but FGCU claimed the season series against the Hurricanes for this first time in program history this season. After defeating Miami, 3-0, in front of a Swanson Stadium record crowd of 2,074 on Mar. 29, FGCU went into the Hurricanes' home park and left with a 5-4 victory on Apr. 12. The win at Swanson Stadium marked FGCU's first in program history at home against Miami.

COACHING MATCHUP
FGCU founding head coach Dave Tollett has posted a 524-312-3 all-time record in his 15th season as the Eagles' skipper. Tollett, who secured his 500th win by defeating UNC Wilmington, 10-1, on Mar. 5, has guided the Eagles to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and has earned an equal amount of ASUN Coach of the Year awards. Tuesday night, Tollett matches up with Miami head coach Jim Morris, who has posted a 1,056-445-3 record in his 24th season at Miami and has taken the Hurricanes to 13 College World Series appearances. Also a 12-year head coach at Georgia Tech, Morris is 1,550-689-4 in his 36th overall season.
 
SCOUTING THE HURRICANES
After dropping two of three games at #10 Virginia last weekend, Miami is 25-26 overall this season with a 13-13 mark in conference play. Since FGCU and Miami last played on Apr. 12, the Hurricanes are 10-9 overall and 6-5 in the ACC. Prior to its series loss to the Cavaliers, Miami won series at Pittsburgh and Boston College and split two games with FSU.

Offensively, after hitting .298 as a team a year ago, Miami has posted a .224 average this season. Junior outfielder Carl Chester leads the way with a .269 average and is coming off a 6-for-12 weekend at the plate with a pair of hits in each contest against Virginia. Sophomore infielder Romy Gonzalez has provided the team's top power bat with 11 home runs and 35 RBI this season.
 
On the mound, Miami has turned to a trio of bullpen arms on many occasions. Sophomore Frankie Bartow has served as the team's closer with a 3.33 ERA and 11 saves in 23 appearances. Additionally, underclassmen Andrew Cabezas and Albert Maury Jr. have made 30 and 24 appearances, respectively, with ERA's of 2.74 and 3.67. 

#ASUNBSB CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND
After sweeping Lipscomb for the first time since 2011, FGCU punched its ticket to the ASUN Baseball Tournament for the sixth straight season. Following yesterday's series finales across the league, the tournament field is now set with Jacksonville (14-4), Stetson (13-5), UNF (11-7), Kennesaw State (10-8) and Lipscomb (8-10) set to join the Green and Blue in DeLand next week. Currently tied with Kennesaw State for fourth in the league, the Eagles still have a chance to move as high as No. 3 depending on how the final weekend of the regular season shakes out.
 
HEATING UP
After hitting .238 and scoring 3.5 runs per game in the first 17 games of April, the FGCU offense has exploded for 64 runs on 84 hits during its current six-game win streak. The team's 37 runs in a three-game series against NJIT were the most since scoring 47 runs at Northern Kentucky in 2014, while its 47 hits against the Highlanders were the most since registering 50 hits in three games at USC Upstate last season. The Eagles have registered 12 or more hits in six straight games, marking the longest streak with double digit hits this season and matching its longest streak from a year ago. Additionally, the Eagles' 19-run margin of victory in its 20-1 vs. NJIT on Apr. 29 registers as the largest in Division I program history.

POWER SURGE
In its series-clinching, blowout win against the Highlanders on Apr. 29, FGCU set the single-game program record with seven home runs, surpassing the previous record of six long balls turned in at ETSU on May 1, 2009. Now with 41 home runs through 50 games this season, the Green and Blue has totaled its most home runs in a single season since hitting 54 home runs in 2010 – the final season of the live bat era. FGCU has homered in five straight games and eight of its last nine, with two or more home runs in four of those contests.

GOING TOE-TO-TOE WITH STATE TITANS
FGCU is 5-2 in games versus Florida, FSU and Miami this season with Tuesday's game against the Hurricanes remaining. The Eagles entered the week of Apr. 3 a perfect 4-0 against the 'Big Three' opponents but dropped a pair of midweek games at FSU by one run. The Eagles swept the then #2 Gators in a pair of midweek games on Mar. 7 and 8 before turning around the following week and defeating then #1 FSU. With the win against the Seminoles, the Green and Blue not only took down its first top-ranked opponent in program history, but also finished off a 13-game stretch against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams with an 11-2 record and a 10-game stretch against #1 or #2 seeds from last year's tournament at 9-1. Additionally, with the aforementioned wins against Miami, FGCU has defeated the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes in the same season for the first time in program history.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the season a program best 24-3, FGCU appeared as high as #9 in the country in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which marked the highest ranking ever achieved by any FGCU athletics program. Additionally, the Eagles were tabbed a consensus top-15 program as the team was ranked #14 or higher in all six nationally-recognized polls.

500-WIN CLUB…AND COUNTING
Tollett joined the 500-win club as FGCU capped off its weekend sweep at UNC Wilmington with a 10-1 win on Mar. 5. With 34 wins this season – the team's most since 2014 – Tollett has now pushed his win total to 524. He has recorded 30 or more wins in 12 of his 15 seasons, including a program record 41 wins in 2006, and has led the Eagles to a winning mark in conference play in eight of nine seasons in the ASUN. Tollett joined Kennesaw State's Mike Sansing and UNF's Smoke Laval as the only active head coaches in the league with 500 or more wins, and the trio was recently joined by the aforementioned Forehand.
 
NCAA ACTIVE LEADER
In his final season with the Green and Blue, Rivera continues to not only climb FGCU's all-time records, but also ranks among the top-10 in active NCAA players in a number of offensive categories. Rivera leads the nation in career games played (237), doubles (71), RBI (204), total bases (462) and walks (163). Additionally, he ranks fourth in hits (271), sixth in at-bats (855) and tied for eighth in home runs (38).

ASUN WEEKLY HONORS
Following its sweep of Lipscomb, Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) earned FGCU's eighth weekly honor this season as he was named the ASUN Baseball Player of the Week. The award was not only the record eighth weekly honor for the Green and Blue this season, but also marks the fifth Player of the Week recognition, which also marks a program record. Former Eagles Brooks Beisner and Michael Suchy combined for four Player of the Week awards in 2013, while the 2010 team that included five-time MLB All-Star Chris Sale earned seven total honors. The five Player of the Week honors is also the most in the ASUN since former member FAU also won five weekly awards during the 2004 season. A complete list of this year's weekly award winners is included at the bottom of this release.
 

Player of the Week	Pitcher of the Week
Richie Garcia (Feb. 20)	Kutter Crawford (Mar. 6)
Matt Reardon (Mar. 13)	Peyton Gray (Mar. 13)
Nick Rivera (Mar. 20)	Mario Leon (Apr. 3)
Nick Rivera (May 1)
Eli Lovell (May 15)

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Since joining the ASUN in 2008, FGCU has not only won more regular season conference championships (four) than any other member of the ASUN, but has also won more overall and league games than any other conference opponent. The following is list of overall and conference records for teams that have competed in the ASUN since 2008.
 

No.	School	Overall	ASUN
1.	FGCU (2008-present)	332-228-1	172-91 (.654)
2.	UNF (2008-present)	318-240	143-115 (.554)
3.	Stetson (2008-present)	294-289	146-116 (.556)
4.	Kennesaw State (2008-present)	293-270	153-103 (.598)
5.	Lipscomb (2008-present)	279-292	132-128 (.508)
6.	Jacksonville (2008-present)	273-286	133-126 (.514)
7.	Mercer (2008-14)	243-156	115-82 (.584)
8.	USC Upstate (2008-present)	217-324	87-169 (.340)
9.	ETSU (2008-14)	197-201	88-110 (.444)
10.	Belmont (2008-12)	158-139	78-68 (.534)
11.	Campbell (2008-11)	93-125	31-85 (.267)
12.	NKU (2013-15)	39-118	14-61 (.187)
13.	Gardner-Webb (2008)	29-30	15-18 (.455)
14.	NJIT (2016-present)	25-74	3-35 (.079)

 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Along with his aforementioned NCAA active ranks, Rivera has also made his mark in FGCU program history as he not only holds the career record for games played, games started (232), doubles, RBI and total bases, but also ranks in the top-five in program history in a few other offensive categories. The Cape Coral native ranks third in home runs and hits and fourth in runs scored (165).

CAREER GAMES PLAYED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	237
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	214

CAREER GAMES STARTED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	232
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	212

CAREER RBI

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	204
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	180
	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	180

CAREER DOUBLES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	71
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	54
3.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	47
	Jason Louwsma (2005-06)	47
	Colton Bottomley (2013-16)	47

CAREER TOTAL BASES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	462
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	418
	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	418

CAREER HOME RUNS

1.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	41
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	40
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	38

CAREER HITS

1.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	316
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	311
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	271

CAREER RUNS SCORED

1.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	237
2.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	202
3.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	178
4.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	165

Earlier this season, Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) broke the program's career and single-season saves record and has now turned in an ASUN-best 12 saves on the season. He also set the career appearances mark and is tied for the program record in games finished. Koerner is joined by Kutter Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS), Garrett Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS), Josh Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) and Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Viera HS), who also make their way up a number of career lists.
 
CAREER SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	19
2.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	14
3.	Brady Anderson (2012-16)	11
4.	Jack Wagoner (2010-11)	9
	Harrison Cooney (2011-13)	9
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	8

 
SINGLE SEASON SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2017)	12
2.	Jack Wagoner (2010)	9
3.	Brady Anderson (2014)	7

 
CAREER APPEARANCES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	94
2.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	86
3.	RJ Brown (2010-13)	82
4.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	80

CAREER GAMES FINISHED

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	51
	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	51
3.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	31

 
LOWEST ERA (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	1.76
2.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	2.52
3.	Richard Bleier (2006-08)	2.70

 
CAREER FEWEST WALKS PER 9.0 IP (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	1.09
2.	Josh Dye (2015-present)	1.09
3.	Jason Short (2003-05)	1.42
4.	Michael Murray (2013-15)	1.46
5.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	1.60
6.	Billy Phillips (2004-05)	1.78
7.	Derek Shaw (2007-09)	1.79
8.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	1.82

 
MOST STRIKEOUTS PER 9.0 IP (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	11.53
2.	Brandon Bixler (2011-13)	10.91
3.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	10.40
4.	Ryan Williams (2004-06)	10.27
5.	Luis Pardo (2007)	10.21
5.	Kenton Hering (2016-present)	10.11

 
LOWEST OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE (MIN 40 IP)

1.	Brandon Bixler (2011-13)	.201
2.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	.206
3.	Chris Cahil (2003-04)	.207
4.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	.216
5.	Clint Knoblauch (2012-16)	.232
6.	Jack English (2012-15)	.234
7.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	.235
8.	Kenton Hering (2016-present)	.236

 
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 15 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 524-312-3 record (.625) 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, two current major leaguers, 17 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.