SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Six strong innings from Justin Gill and a timely two-run single in the seventh put the FGCU baseball team on top of USC Upstate in Sunday's rubber match. The Eagles (27-11, 5-4 ASUN) claimed the series with a 3-2 victory against the Spartans (21-22-1, 4-8 ASUN).

"Anytime you can go on the road and win a series it's a good thing," said head coach Dave Tollett. "We know how hard these games are to win and these guys fought today. It's good to see them bounce back after a little rough patch. I thought Gill was tremendous today and deserved his first win."

Six strong innings from Gill (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region HS/Polk State) set the tone for FGCU on an afternoon where runs were at a premium. The two sides combined for five hits through the first five innings of play, four of those belonging to an Eagle.

The Green and Blue broke the scoreless deadlock in the sixth when Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) scored from first on a double to left center off the bat of Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Kansas City Kansas Community College).

The Spartans, however, responded with a run of their own in the sixth but Gill forced a crucial double play with the bases loaded and one out to end the inning with the game tied at 1-1.

Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) provided the dramatics for the Green and Blue in South Carolina, ripping a two-out single to right center to score both Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) and Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) who both walked with one out.

Evan Lumbert (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS/South Florida State) then entered with a 3-1 lead and allowed one hit in the seventh. Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Viera HS/Eastern Florida State College) got the call with one on the eighth and stranded a pair before the Spartans pushed a run across on two hits in the ninth. Hering slammed the door with a groundout for his sixth save of the season.

Gill (1-0) allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts to earn the win.  

UP NEXT
FGCU heads to Boca Raton Tuesday for a meeting with the Owls. FGCU and FAU are set to meet at 6:30 p.m.

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 560-327-3 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.