DELAND, Fla. – Behind a career night from senior Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS), the FGCU baseball team (13-8, 1-1 ASUN) earned a 13-6 victory over Stetson (15-8, 1-1 ASUN) on Saturday night at Melching Field. With the result, the Eagles claimed their first ASUN Conference win of the 2021 season and leveled out the weekend series with the Hatters at 1-1.

Garcia became the first player in the program's 19-year history to finish his game with six hits. The Preseason All-ASUN selection cranked out a pair of doubles and scored four of the team's runs.

"What a special game for Richie, both defensively and offensively," head coach Dave Tollett said. "I have been doing this for a long time and to see six hits in one game is just outstanding. But that's not even the extent of it. Richie had an amazing game defensively and had a couple of highlight reel plays that saved some runs. Overall, he probably played one of the best games in FGCU baseball history. I was also really pleased with Tipton tonight, who was great out of the bullpen. He did exactly what we needed him to do. This was a great win for our ballclub."

After a slow start to the weekend, FGCU's offense got going early in game two and put up a combined 10 runs in the first three innings. Senior Cameron Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) got the Eagles on the board in the opening frame when his first career triple cleared the bases and plated both Garcia and redshirt-sophomore Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS). Krzeminski, who later came in on senior Marc Coffers' (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) RBI single, helped the team jump out to an early 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) continued the scoring in the second inning when his two-RBI knock pushed both Garcia and Ellis across. He was one of four Eagles to pick up RBI during the five-spot that propelled the team to an 8-0 edge, as he was joined by freshman Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS), freshman Johnny Long (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and sophomore Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State). 

Junior starter Gus Carter (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State) worked around a pair of Hatters in the first, but was unable to hold the team scoreless for long as a solo shot put the Hatters on the board in the second, making it an 8-1 game.  

Undeterred by Stetson's home run, the Eagles then went on to score for the third-consecutive frame. Garcia kicked things off with a double and was driven in by Kinker, who roped a two-bagger in the following at-bat. Kinker later crossed home plate after a Stetson wild pitch, putting FGCU up 10-1.

Though Carter was able to keep the Hatters in check early, Stetson's offense started to get going in the bottom of the third. Over the next two innings, the home team tagged up four runs, two of which were unearned, cutting the visiting team's lead down to 10-5.

Stetson continued to claw its way back in the bottom of the fifth when it pushed across its third unearned run of the ballgame. With FGCU's lead down to 10-6, the team made a call to the bullpen and brought out sophomore Tyler Tipton (Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State), who stranded runners on the corners when he ended the fifth with a strikeout.

As the game wound down, FGCU's bats began to heat up once again. Krzeminski broke the team's three-inning scoreless streak when his second extra-base hit of the night, a double, drove in Garcia and re-extended the lead to 11-6.

Though the Eagles were retired in order in the eighth, they were able to push two final insurance runs across in the ninth after loading up the bases. Garcia, whose record-breaking sixth hit of the night was a double, was brought in by Coffers and the scoring was later completed by sophomore Jalen Townsend's (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park HS) first RBI of the year. The performance boosted FGCU to its final 13-6 margin, as Tipton closed out the home team's half of the inning.

Tipton was dominant in relief and faced just three over the minimum during his 4.1 inning appearance. He finished his outing with a career-high three punchouts while scattering four hits. Saturday's outing was the longest of his FGCU career so far and he was awarded the win for his efforts, moving him to 2-0 on the season.

With the series on the line, the teams will prepare to play a rubber match on Sunday, March 28 at Melching Field. First pitch of the finale is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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.

ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings

School	ASUN	Overall
UNF	2-0	8-11
Stetson	1-1	15-8
FGCU	1-1	13-8
Jacksonville	0-2	5-14

North Division Standings

School	ASUN	Overall
Liberty	5-1	16-5
Kennesaw State	4-2	14-8
Bellarmine	4-5	8-13
Lipscomb	2-3	7-10
North Alabama	2-6	3-17

Results - Saturday, March 27
Bellarmine 8, Liberty 7 (DH)
Liberty 5, Bellarmine 1 (DH)
North Alabama 7, Lipscomb 6
Kennesaw State 7, Georgia State 4
FGCU 13, Stetson 6
UNF 13, Jacksonville 6

COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 622-372-3 overall record (.625) and a 200-110 (.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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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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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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