SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The FGCU baseball team bounced back Saturday, evening up the series against USC Upstate with a 14-1 victory. The Eagles (26-11, 4-4 ASUN) used a three-run first and a seven-run fifth to pave the way for the afternoon win over the Spartans (21-21-1, 4-7 ASUN).

"We've been waiting for this game," said head coach Dave Tollett. "We needed this type of energy to break us out of our slide. Josh was terrific on the mound and our bats were big for us. We need a similar performance tomorrow."

The Eagles jumped on Upstate early and often, beginning with a three-run third inning. Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) led off the game with a single up the middle and eventually came around to score on a throwing error. Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) then singled to right, scoring Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) as Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Kansas City Kansas Community College) capped the scoring with a sac fly to bring in Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State).

Josh Dye (DeLand, Fla/DeLand HS) went to work, stranding three baserunners over the first four innings.

During that span, the Eagles increased their lead to 5-0 thanks to a Garcia double that turned into a home run with the assist of an error from USC Upstate. A Coffers' sacrifice fly then made it 5-0 after Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) led off the fourth with a double.

Garcia struck again in the fifth, homering to lead off the inning. The long ball was Garcia's fifth of the season to make it 6-0. Not long after Jay Hayes (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) made it 8-0 with a two-run homer that also brought in Lovell.

The fifth inning continued as the Eagles scored on a fielder's choice before Brait hit a three-run home run to make it 12-0.

Upstate plated one in the eighth, only for Coffers to hit a two-run blast in the ninth to make it 14-1.

Coffers and Brait ended the afternoon with three RBI apiece as Garcia finished 4-for-5 at the dish, – his first four-hit game of the season– along with two RBI. 
 
Dye worked 7.0 innings, allowing no runs on five hits to run his record to 6-2. Bryan Wilcox (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) worked 0.1 innings, conceding one run. Sebastian Gruszecki (Dudley, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional HS) tossed 1.2 innings, allowing just two hits.

UP NEXT
FGCU goes for the series win tomorrow at noon.

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 16th season, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 559-327-3 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.