FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Baseball team (10-5) dropped a midweek game to No. 5 Miami (9-4) on Wednesday night at Swanson Stadium, falling 15-2. Despite a solid start from junior Gus Carter (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State), the Eagles were unable to contain Miami's offense, as the visiting Hurricanes earned a 15-9 advantage in hits.

Offensively, FGCU was led by junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS), who finished his night two-for-four at the plate with a run scored, and sophomore Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State), whose solo shot in the fifth initially put the Eagles on the board.

"I thought they were better in all three aspects of the game tonight," head coach Dave Tollett said. "They are ranked fifth in the country for a reason. On a positive note, I thought we got a good start from Gus (Carter) but besides that, they were better than us. We did not play very well after Gus came out."

After sitting down the Hurricanes in order in the first, Carter allowed a leadoff triple in the second. Miami was able to plate the runner thanks to an outfield single, but the southpaw bounced back and ended the inning, forcing the Hurricanes to leave the bases loaded with a 1-0 lead.

Over the course of the next two frames, Carter allowed just one baserunner to reach. Meanwhile, sophomore Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS), Ellis and senior Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) each had a base knock in the opening innings, but the Eagles were unable to plate any runs.

Miami's offense got going in the top of the fifth after being limited early on. A leadoff single kicked things off for the 'Canes, who then used a two-RBI double to begin the scoring. Freshman Mason Miller (Odessa, Fla./Mitchell HS) relieved Carter after the two-bagger and allowed one of the inherited runners to come in. The rookie then turned things over to senior Hunter McGarry (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/State College of Florida-Manatee), who entered the game with the bases loaded and just one out on the board. Though the first batter he faced launched a grand slam out to left field, McGarry responded with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. The shot capped off Miami's seven-spot, extending the team's lead to 8-0.

Wilmer then scored the Eagles' first run of the night in the home team's half of the inning, cranking out the first home run of his FGCU career. The right-field solo shot made it an 8-1 ballgame.

Over the next three innings, Miami continued to add to its lead thanks to a combined seven additional runs. Four different Green & Blue arms made appearances during that span, and all but redshirt-junior Jake Lister (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/FAMU) and redshirt-freshman Levi Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) were tagged with earned runs. The scoring burst helped Miami to distance itself from FGCU by as much as 15-1.

The Hurricanes' pitchers kept the Eagles fairly quiet down the stretch with the exception of freshman Jacob Lojewski's (West Palm Beach, Fla./American Heritage Delray) double that drove in Ellis in the eighth. The two-bagger, which was the rookie's third extra-base hit of the year, cut the advantage down to its final, 15-2 margin.

Freshman Chase Chatman (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast HS) closed things out for the Green & Blue on the mound, sitting down the Hurricanes in order in the top of the ninth. It marked just the third time in the game that three-consecutive Miami batters had been retired, as Carter did so twice.

In the bottom of the ninth, both freshmen Kyle Machado (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) and Zac Calhoon (Osprey, Fla./Venice HS) reached with singles, but the Eagles were unable to score any additional runs. Calhoon's hit was the first of his Green & Blue career, joining classmate Mac Moise (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) in achieving the feat against the Hurricanes.

With the result, Carter moves to 0-1 on the season. The lefty finished his night with a career-best seven strikeouts and was tagged with four earned runs.

Now that the game against Miami is in the books, FGCU will turn its attention towards an upcoming weekend series against Florida A&M. The Eagles will head up to Tallahassee to take on the Rattlers for four games. The teams will first face off on Friday, March 19 before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, March 20. The series finale is slated for Sunday, March 21.

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 618-370-3 overall record (.625) 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 85 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 40 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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