DAYTONA, Fla. – Away from home for the first time this season, the FGCU baseball team cruised to an 11-3 victory over Bethune-Cookman at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The Eagles have now won four straight and are 4-2 on the season while the Wildcats fall to 1-4.

"Our offense continues to click," said head coach Dave Tollett. "Brian [Ellis] has had a strong start to the season, but really took off tonight and when he is going good, it leads to a lot of success for us. Woodward also provided us a great start tonight which isn't always easy on the road. We hope to continue this strong start tomorrow and Sunday."

Redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) had a monster game, going 4-for-6 with a home run, a double, and six RBI, a new career-high.

Junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) also continued his torrid stretch to begin the season, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

On the mound, sophomore Jason Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) was solid, throwing six innings and striking out seven while allowing just one run and three hits.

After two scoreless innings to begin the game, the Eagles jumped ahead in the third. Rodriguez and graduate student Bobby Head (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS/Austin Peay) each singled to begin the inning before Ellis unloaded for his third home run of the season, matching his total from last year in just the sixth game of the season.

The Eagles were not done in the third as they added another run on an error before Rodriguez collected his second hit of the inning to drive in the fifth run.

After the Wildcats got a run in the bottom of the third, the Eagles got it back in the fourth as Ellis led off with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State).

Ellis added two more RBI in the fifth with a two-run single to extend the Eagle lead to 8-1.

In the seventh, the Eagles reached double figures for the fifth time in six games. After Head knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, Ellis picked up his sixth RBI of the night with a double to make it 10-1.

Sophomore Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) picked up his first hit and RBI of the season in the ninth to cap the scoring for the Eagles.

The Eagles and Wildcats will continue their series tomorrow evening. First pitch is set for 6 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.
 
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 640-387-3 overall record (.623) and a 211-115 (.647) 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 58 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.