TAMPA, Fla. – For the third time this season, the FGCU baseball team (9-4) has won a weekend series, doing so with its 6-5 victory against USF (7-5) on Saturday evening. Freshman Mason Miller (Odessa, Fla./Mitchell HS) collected his first win of the season in relief, while senior Hunter McGarry (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/State College of Florida-Manatee) earned his second save. With 14 career stops, the closer now ties former Eagle JJ Crumbley (2005-08) for third in the Green & Blue record book.

The win, which was notched at the Bulls' home stadium in Tampa, puts the Eagles at 2-0 on the weekend and 5-0 against USF this year. FGCU will look to complete the three-game sweep during the series finale at Swanson Stadium on Sunday, March 14 (2 p.m.).

"This was a great series win against a very good club," head coach Dave Tollett said. "We had a great performance by our bullpen today and our offense was really successful at getting timely hits. Marc (Coffers) had a great night and I was really happy with (Hunter) McGarry's outing. This was just a great win for our program. We're excited and looking forward to playing at home tomorrow."

The game started off with a lot of back-and-forth action, as a combined eight runs were put up before the third inning. The first run of the night was scored in the top of the opening frame when senior Marc Coffers' (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) RBI single plated junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS). In the following at-bat, sophomore Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) came around to score when senior Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) grounded out, putting the Eagles up 2-0.

The Bulls matched the effort in their half of the inning and pushed two runs across. The score was not tied up for long, as FGCU regained its lead in the top of the third when senior Richie Garcia's (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) base knock scored both sophomore Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State) and freshman Johnny Long (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS). Coffers eventually capped off the three-spot with an RBI single of his own that brought in Ellis and put the Eagles up 5-2.

In the home team's half of the inning, the Bulls used an unearned run to trim the lead down to 5-3.

Both sides were relatively quiet over the next few innings, as a pair of pitching changes slowed down each offense. Junior Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) relieved freshman starter Ronaldo Gallo (Miami, Fla./Miami Southridge) in the bottom of the third and then went on to retire the side in the following frame.

After a few quiet innings, the Bulls were able to resume their scoring when a pair of triples helped the team knot up the score at 5-5. With two outs on the board, Miller came out of the bullpen to take over for Shuck and sat down the first batter that he faced, ending the fifth.

Once again, USF was unable to keep the score tied for long as the Eagles regained the lead in the top of the sixth. Ellis kicked off the frame with a single and swiped a bag to get into scoring position. The Bulls made a pitching change in an effort to preserve the tie, and were even able to get Ellis off the base paths, but an RBI single off the bat of Krzeminski sent in Kinker and helped the Green & Blue to regain the advantage at 6-5.

From the sixth through the eighth, Miller limited USF's offense to putting a combined four runners on base. After allowing a pair of Bulls to reach while recording just one out, the rookie was relieved in the bottom of the eighth by McGarry who helped the team end the inning with a double play.

Once again, the Bulls tried to get something going in the bottom of the ninth when they worked runners onto the corners with two outs but they were unable to plate any runs as a groundout to Garcia at short ended the ballgame.

Offensively, FGCU was led by Coffers, who finished his night 2-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI. The senior was one of six Eagles that had a multi-hit game. Overall, the team's 14 knocks are the second-most of the season, behind only the 15 that were cranked out last night.

For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 617-369-3 overall record (.626) and a 199-109 (.646) record in the ASUN. He is the only head coach in the program's history and led the program to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017. He is a five-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to five ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as No. 9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 54 all-conference selections, 33 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 13 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 seven-time MLB All-Star.

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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
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FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 84 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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