FORT MYERS, Fla. – A stellar performance from Mario Leon paved the way for a 5-0 victory Friday night for the FGCU baseball team over UMBC. Leon struck out 10 Retrievers (5-11) and the bullpen tacked on six more, helping the Eagles (16-5) record their second shutout of the season.

"Mario prepared well all week; we had to make some minor changes but he was really good tonight," said head coach Dave Tollett. "Fastball was good, breaking ball was good, and this was by far his best outing of the year. Their kid was really good and this was a hard-fought, Friday night win."

The 16 strikeouts tonight were the most since the Eagles matched that number against Kennesaw State last season and proved to be more than enough for the Green and Blue on the night. Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) was dealing from the start, striking out seven through the first four innings of the game allowing the Eagles to scratch across two runs in the fourth. Then in the seventh, a Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) two-run single gave the Eagles some insurance while the bullpen kept the UMBC bats in check.

Leon was in control early, striking out two in each of the first three innings before tallying another strikeout in the fourth. During that time, FGCU was limited to one hit before breaking through in the fourth.

Garcia started the inning with a walk before moving to third on an infield single by Jay Hayes (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS). With runners at the corners, Eric Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./American Senior HS/ASA College) lined a 1-1 pitch to left, bringing Garcia home and Hayes to third on a fielding error. A fielder's choice later made it 2-0.

UMBC threatened for the first time in the sixth, putting runners at second and third with nobody out thanks in part to an error but Leon worked around it, keeping the Retrievers off the board with his tenth strikeout and a pair of groundouts.

Set up by a clean frame from Peyton Gray (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East HS/Gulf Coast State College), the Eagles tacked on some insurance runs in the seventh. A one-out walk by Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) followed by a single to right from Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) put runners at the corners for Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) who doubled to center to score one. Garcia then followed with a hard-hit single to right, scoring two to bring the advantage to 5-0.

The Eagles continued to use a strong bullpen performance to silence the UMBC bats, closing out the win.

Leon's (3-1) 10 strikeouts were a season-high over 6.0 innings while walking two and scattering four hits. Grey worked a clean seventh striking out a pair, while Trey Vickery (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) also struck out two in his inning of work. Parker Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS) worked the final inning for FGCU, also fanning two.

UP NEXT
The Eagles go for the series win tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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DAVE TOLLETT
In his 16th season, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 549-321-3 record (.626) as the only head coach in the program's history and is coming off the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as #9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 49 All-Conference selections, 29 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 15 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, three 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.