KENNESAW, Ga. – After a first-inning home run from Nick Rivera set the tone, FGCU (35-17, 11-8 ASUN) continued to swing the bats in a convincing 8-1 win at Kennesaw State (23-28, 10-9 ASUN) Thursday night at Stillwell Stadium.

The Eagles hit four home runs in the game, including Rivera's (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) sixth career multi-home run game and third this season, en route to claiming its seventh straight win in ASUN play. Now at 11-8 in the conference, FGCU sits in a tie for third with UNF with two games to play prior to next week's conference tournament.

During its seven-game conference winning streak, the Green and Blue have scored 72 runs on 92 hits with a .345 team average and 17 home runs. FGCU has totaled 25 long balls in conference play, which is 10 more than both Kennesaw State and Lipscomb who are tied for second in the category. The Eagles have also been getting it done on the mound with a 2.86 staff ERA during the span.

Making his 11th start of the season, Kutter Crawford (6-1, 1.76) tossed 5.0 innings and allowed one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts en route to earning the win. Opposite Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS), Kennesaw State starter Tony Dibrell suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on six hits in 4.1 innings pitched. The seven runs against Dibrell, who entered the game as the ASUN leader in ERA, were a season high for the junior right hander.

"That was a big win against a solid team and good pitcher," said FGCU head coach Dave Tollett. "I was pleased with the way we played in all three aspects of the game. We got some big hits to get us out to an early lead and played good defense behind some solid pitching. We've put ourselves into a good situation with the conference tournament coming up, and we'll see what we can do if we can continue to swing the bats and pitch well heading into next week."

FGCU wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard as Rivera deposited the first pitch he saw from Dibrell onto the roof of a building beyond the fence in left center field to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.

After a leadoff walk from Rivera and double by Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Kansas City Kansas CC/Lincoln Southwest HS) put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the top of the fourth, FGCU extended its lead as Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) hit a grounder to short that scored Rivera from third. Garcia became the fourth Eagle with 30 or more RBI on the season.

Kennesaw State got the run right back as Chris Erwin led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to center field. It was the first home run allowed by Crawford this season, but would be the junior pitcher's only blemish of the game.

The ball continued to fly out of Stillwell Stadium in the top of the fifth as Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) crushed the first pitch over the fence in center field to get things going. It was the freshman's third home run of the season, all of which have come in the last seven games. Dibrell issued back-to-back walks following the home run, and Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) delivered two batters later with a single right back up the middle to make it a 4-1 ballgame. Rivera then crushed his second home run of the game even deeper onto the roof in left center to blow things open, extend the lead to 7-1 and run Dibrell from the game. With two home runs Thursday night, Rivera not only moved into a tie for second in program history with 40 career home runs, but is also tied for third in single-season history with 14 long balls this year.

Two innings later, leadoff man Julio Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College/Brito Miami Private HS) kept things going as he started the top of the seventh with a solo home run off Owls reliever Erich Stahl. The home run was FGCU's fourth and final of the game, and the Eagles have now hit four or more home runs on three occasions in the last 10 games, good for a total of 22 long balls during the stretch.

On the mound, the FGCU trio of Parker Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS), Ryan Ahern (Venice, Fla./State College of Florida/Venice HS) and Christian Townsend (Safety Harbor, Fla./Countryside HS) backed up Crawford's solid performance and didn't allow a run in the final 4.0 innings.

With four RBI in the game, Rivera pushed his career total to 209 and now stands alone in sixth on the ASUN's all-time list in the category. Additionally, with 49 RBI on the season, the redshirt senior slugger leads the league in the category while ranking tied for first with 14 home runs.

UP NEXT
FGCU and Kennesaw State square off in the second of three games this weekend tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Stillwell Baseball Stadium. FGCU will send left hander Josh Dye (8-3, 2.92) to the mound to oppose Kennesaw State right hander AJ Moore (4-5, 5.74).

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 525-313-3 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, 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.