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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 19^th-ranked FGCU baseball team earned another in-state mid-week victory Tuesday night, holding off the South Florida Bulls 5-3 at Swanson Stadium.
 
Winners of three straight and 11 of 12 home games this season, the Eagles improved to 17-4 with the victory. USF fell to 8-14.
 
FGCU freshman lefty Chase Kriebel (Shippenville, Pa./Clarion Area HS) earned his first collegiate victory, scattering four hits over six innings and not allowing a run in 85 pitches. Junior pitcher Connor O'Hara (Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) threw a flawless final 2 1/3 innings for his second save.

"Great start. Great start for a freshman," said FGCU head baseball coach Dave Tollett. "He continues to get better, and it is a great sign. I am very proud of him to get us six scoreless innings, which gave our offense to add a little bit. It's a big mid-week win for us."
 
FGCU's offense, which entered Tuesday with the sixth-most hits in the country (52), delivered nine more against the Bulls. Senior first baseman Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) went 2-for-3 with a double, and junior infielder Edrick Felix (Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) was 2-for-4 with a double.
 
Redshirt senior outfielder Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) drew a leadoff walk Tuesday reach base in his 90th consecutive game, which is 11 games shy of matching an unofficial NCAA record held by Mark Payton of Texas over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
 
The Eagles jumped on the Bulls early, as senior infielder Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) singled in Ellis to make it 1-0 in the first inning. FGCU doubled that total in the fourth when Felix scored on a USF throwing error.
 
But it was the fifth inning where FGCU broke it open for good – as senior catcher/infielder Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) cracked a two-run single to left that scored Kinker and Figueredo for a 4-0 advantage. The Green & Blue tacked on another run on a groundout by junior infielder/pitcher Jacob Lojewski (West Palm Beach, Fla./Delray American Heritage HS).
 
"I have been struggling a little bit staying closer to the ball, and that at-bat I really did a good job of staying through the middle," Rodriguez said. "It is good to know that we have guys who can hit for power, and guys who can hit in the gaps and do things too."
 
"We had some big team at-bats," Tollett said. "Figgy takes a walk, Kinker takes a walk and then A-Rod gets his hit. That is huge that they are that unselfish. For two guys who can really swing it to take the walk and allow A-Rod to be the guy."
 
Staked with a lead, Kriebel kept USF at bay almost the entire time – and when he did get into trouble in the sixth, allowing Bulls to reach second and third, he worked out of the jam with his only strikeout of the night to end the threat.
 
"I told him to not let me come out here and shake your hand, let me shake your hand in the dugout after you get this guy," said Tollett describing his mound visit prior to Kriebel's inning-ending strikeout. "I said 'Hey, finish it. You've been great. So finish it.' "
 
USF made it interesting in the seventh, scoring three runs via a Jackson Mayo RBI double and RBI singles from Eric Snow and Drew Brutcher to make it 5-3. But O'Hara was able to avert any more damage by earning an inning-ending strikeout.
 
The Eagles now hit the road to begin a four-game road trip – first heading to Miami to take on FIU at 6 p.m. Wednesday. From there, a three-game set at ASUN foe North Alabama is set for Friday-Sunday. FGCU returns home March 31-April 2 to face Jacksonville at Swanson Stadium.
 
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.
 
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE  
Tickets for the 2023 FGCU baseball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.  
 
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 688-412-3 overall record (.625) and a 230-118 (.659) 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 63 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, two National Freshman All-Americans, 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.  
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 23 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 24 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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