FORT MYERS, Fla. – A three-run third inning and some strong pitching late helped the FGCU baseball team win its sixth game in seven tries Wednesday night. The Eagles (31-12) took down the FIU Panthers (21-24) by a 4-3 final, securing the season sweep over FIU.
 
"Every win feels good," said head coach Dave Tollett. "Any time you can get a win in May it's good because this is the time you have to start playing your best. And we're not clicking on all cylinders right now so that's what makes this even better. If we start playing well, we'll be a tough team to beat."
 
After winning the first contest between the two teams 13-6, the Green and Blue prevailed 4-3 Wednesday to sweep the season series over their cross-state rivals. After FIU posted an unearned run in the first inning, Spencer Levine (Miami, Fla./Miami Killian Senior HS/Seminole State College) crushed his fourth home run of the season to leadoff the third inning, tying the game. Later that inning, Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) and Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) both tallied RBI to make it a 3-1 ballgame. FGCU recorded another run in the sixth before FIU tallied a pair in the eighth to make it 4-3. Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Viera HS/Eastern Florida State College) then entered and recorded his eighth save of the season.
 
Evan Lumbert (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS/South Florida State) nearly kept the Panthers off the board in the first, but an error brought in the game's first run. Lumbert's first strikeout of the evening limited the damage and began a stretch where the right-hander retired seven of the next nine batters he faced.
 
Levine led off the third inning and after running the count full, he crushed his fourth home run of the season off the light pole to tie the ballgame at 1-1. That set off the string of three-straight baserunners to reach beginning with a Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) double to center. After Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS) walked, Garcia lined a base hit to left to bring Coffers around while sending Brait to third on the throw. FGCU capped the scoring on a fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Gilmore.
 
Lumbert found himself in a bit of a jam in the fourth, but with two on and two out he struck out his second batter of the inning and fifth of the game to keep his side in front.
 
It was a similar scenario in the fifth for Lumbert, but this time FIU had two on and only one out. Following a fly out, Lumbert tallied his seventh strikeout to keep the score 3-1.
 
A double play ball in the sixth allowed the FGCU bats to go back to work and tally an insurance run in the bottom half. Elijah Eusebio (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior HS) got FGCU going with a one-out double to left before Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) came on to run for him. Krzeminski scampered to third on a passed ball before scoring on a Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) single to make it a 4-1 ballgame.
 
Sebastian Gruszecki (Dudley, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional HS) worked around a walk in the seventh to keep the lead intact while Parker Hamilton (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS) surrendered two in the eighth. Hering entered with two outs in the eighth; tallying the final four outs for his eighth save.
 
Lumbert (6-2) earned the win, tossing 6.0 innings of one-run baseball. The righty surrendered one unearned run on five hits with seven strikeouts.
 
UP NEXT
FGCU continues ASUN play Friday at 6:30 p.m. against UNF.
 
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 564-328-3 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.