FORT MYERS, Fla. --- In a game that featured 358 pitches and 68 foul balls, the FGCU baseball team (23-15, 9-4 ASUN) used a seven-run stretch over the fifth and sixth innings to produce a 10-1 win over North Florida (15-17, 8-5) on Friday night inside Swanson Stadium in a key ASUN South Division matchup.
 
"I thought we played pretty solid," FGCU head coach Dave Tollett said. "I would have liked to have gotten Mason a little further, but his pitch count got up there. I thought our bullpen did a great job. Our offense was huge, especially with the four run fifth with two outs. That was big. We capitalized on their mistakes, which is what we've been doing all year. It was a big Friday night win, especially considering all three teams are playing for the same thing."
 
With the win, the Eagles not only improved to 4-0 against the Ospreys this year but moved one game ahead of North Florida in the ASUN South Division standings and are now locked with Stetson in a two-way tie atop the division standings with five remaining. FGCU and UNF will resume their weekend series at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Mason Studstill (7-2) picked up his fifth consecutive victory after going the first five full innings. He allowed five hits, three walks and a run while registering 111 pitches over 19 batters faced. Behind a key bases loaded double-play in the sixth inning, the bullpen trio of Joey Mugavero, Jason Woodward and Najer Victor then held the Ospreys scoreless over the final four innings.
 
Cameron Krzeminski and Johnny Long got the Eagles going offensively in the second inning as the duo tallied back-to-back RBI doubles to give FGCU a 3-0 lead. After North Florida got a run back on a bases loaded wild pitch as Studstill's (Titusville, Fla./Rockledge HS/Eastern Florida State/Miami) pitch count started to rise, the Green and Blue put the game away with seven runs combined in the fifth and sixth.
 
After the first two batters were retired in the fifth, FGCU tallied four straight hits, including doubles from Joe Kinker and Ian Farrow. After Marc Coffers walked to load the bases, Krzeminski (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) slapped a two-run single to left center, scoring two and giving the Eagles a 7-1 lead.
 
Following that, Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/FSW) took the mound for Studstill. UNF loaded the bases with one out, but a 6-4-3 double play ended the threat and kept momentum with the Eagles, who responded with an RBI double from Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS), an RBI groundout from Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) and a sacrifice fly from Stephen Wilmer in the sixth that pushed the margin to nine.
 
Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) faced just two over the minimum in the seventh and eighth, and Victor (Philadelphia, Penn./East Ridge HS) struck out a pair in a scoreless ninth.  
 
Kinker (2-for-4, R, BB, RBI), Alejandro Figueredo (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB) and Krzeminski (2-for-3, R, 3 RBI, BB) each had two-hit performances while Farrow (1-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Wilmer (1-for-4, 2 R, RBI) and Long (1-for-4, 2 RBI) also contributed. Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS), who was the victim of two tough-luck at bats due to some great defensive plays, finished 0-for-3 but had a run and a walk.
 
Kinker tallied his 13th multi-hit game of the season and has now reached base in a team-best 13 straight, while Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) extended his team-best hitting streak to six straight. Studstill moved within six strikeouts of 200 in his FGCU career.
 
ASUN Standings

South Division

School	ASUN	Overall
FGCU	9-4	23-15
Stetson	9-4	23-15
North Florida	8-5	15-17
Jacksonville	0-13	7-28

North Division

School	ASUN	Overall
Liberty	12-1	28-11
Kennesaw State	12-3	25-12
Bellarmine	7-12	12-25
Lipscomb	5-11	14-23
North Alabama	5-14	6-33

Friday Schedule
Liberty 15, Bellarmine 3
Kennesaw State 5, No. 24 Georgia Tech 1
FGCU 10, North Florida 1
Stetson 5, Jacksonville 0
North Alabama 6, Lipscomb 3
 
Saturday Schedule
North Florida at FGCU, 2 p.m.
Bellarmine at Liberty, 4 p.m.
Kennesaw State at No. 24 Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson, 6:30 p.m.
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
 
Sunday Schedule
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 1 p.m.
Bellarmine at Liberty, 1 p.m.
North Florida at FGCU, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson, 1 p.m.
No. 24 Georgia Tech at Kennesaw State, 1 p.m.
 
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 631-379-3 overall record (.625) and a 206-114 (.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.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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!
 
#FEEDFGCU
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.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM—