RELEASE | FGCU’s Figueredo Named ASUN Preseason Player of the Year

FGCU's Figueredo Named ASUN Preseason Player of the Year

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The 2023 FGCU baseball team continued to pile up preseason accolades Wednesday, as senior third baseman Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) was named the ASUN Conference Preseason Player of the Year.

Figueredo, the only unanimous selection to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team, was joined by three Eagles teammates. Redshirt senior outfielder Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS), sophomore outfielder Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) and senior first baseman Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) were also among the 15 players chosen to the first team. No other ASUN team had more than three players on the list.

FGCU, which finished 2022 with a 35-23 record, was tabbed to finish third in the ASUN - behind Liberty and Kennesaw State - in the ASUN Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. The Eagles, who were 22-13 at Swanson Stadium and finished 76th in the final 2022 RPI rankings, garnered two first-place votes. Liberty led the way with 10 first-place votes and 191 total points, with Kennesaw State also garnering two first-place votes and 173 total points. FGCU has 161 points.

Figueredo, who was named to the D1Baseball All-American Team earlier in the week and also was selected as a third-team preseason NCAA Division- I All-American, led the ASUN in 2022 with a .392 batting average. Figueredo was 20th in the nation in that category, and he also led the Green & Blue with a 1.135 OPS and a .659 slugging percentage.

Figueredo belted 13 home runs, 21 doubles, a triple, drove in 62 runs and scored 49 runs in 2022. For his FGCU career, Figueredo sports a .339 batting average with 18 homers, 27 doubles, 88 RBIs, 69 runs scored and 56 walks.

Kinker joined Figueredo on both the D1Baseball All-American Team and was named third-team preseason NCAA Division- I All-American earlier this season. A first-team All-ASUN selection as a junior in 2022, Kinker was the 14th-rated first baseman in D1Baseball's Week 6 Positional Power Rankings. He is currently second in FGCU history with 42 home runs, and hit .273 with 20 homers, 14 doubles, 51 RBIs and 62 runs scored last season.

Kinker is hitting .275 in his FGCU career, with 32 doubles, a triple, 142 runs scored and 142 RBIs. He has drawn 128 walks in four seasons - including 50 last season alone.

Ellis, who was named D1Baseball's ASUN preseason Player of the Year on Monday, is the only captain coach Dave Tollett has named in his 36-year coaching career. Ellis sports a .496 career on-base percentage from the leadoff spot. He hit .379 with a team-high 74 runs, and reached base in 68 consecutive games.

Povey, whom D1Baseball projects as the second-ranked ASUN prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft, hit .288 last season with 15 home runs and 62 RBIs. The left-handed right fielder doubled 13 times and carried a .562 slugging percentage as a freshman en route to NCBWA Freshman All-American honors.

FGCU begins the 56-game 2023 season with a four-game weekend series against Hofstra at Swanson Stadium on Feb. 17-19. The Eagles will play four games against the Pride, take on Indiana State on Feb. 21 in Port Charlotte, and host UMass Lowell for a three-game series Feb. 24-26.

FGCU will play 42 games in the state of Florida, not including the ASUN Tournament which begins May 23 in DeLand. The Eagles play four games against both FAU and FIU (two each at Swanson Stadium), and have ASUN home series with Liberty (March 17-19), Jacksonville (March 21-April 2), Jacksonville State (April 21-23), Stetson (May 5-7) and Kennesaw State (May 18-20).

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2023 ASUN Conference Baseball Preseason Honors & Awards

Preseason Player of the Year: Alejandro Figueredo, FGCU
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Garrett Horn, Liberty

ASUN Baseball Preseason All-Conference Team
SP: AJ Causey, Jacksonville State, So., Harvest, Ala., Business
SP: Garrett Horn, Liberty, So., Kernersville, N.C., Sports Psychology
SP: Michael Dunkelberge, Lipscomb, Jr., South Bend, Ind., Business
RP: Bryce Fisher, Jacksonville, Jr., Orlando, Fla., Business
RP: Matthew Bohnert, Lipscomb, Jr., Cave Creek, Ariz., Strategic New Media Market
C: Will King, Eastern Kentucky, Jr., New York, N.Y., Undecided
1B: Joe Kinker, FGCU, Sr., North Port, Fla., Secondary Social Science Ed.
2B: Zac Corbin, Kennesaw State, So., Jefferson, Ga., Exercise Science
2B: Aidan Sweatt, North Florida, Jr., Fernandina Beach, Fla., Sport Management
3B: Alejandro Figueredo#, FGCU, Sr., Sucre, Venezuela, Integrated Studies
SS: Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb, So., Atlanta, Ga., Business Finance
OF: Brian Ellis, FGCU, Sr., Oviedo, Fla., Health Services Admin.
OF: Harrison Povey, FGCU, So., Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., Pre-Finance
OF: T.J. Reeves, Jacksonville State, Sr., Birmingham, Ala., Integrated Studies
DH: Evan Hafley, Central Arkansas, Sr., Peaster, Texas

# - Unanimous selection to Preseason All-Conference Team
* - a tie in voting resulted in a 15-person team

Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll
Pl. Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Liberty (10) 191
2. Kennesaw State (2) 173
3. FGCU (2) 161
4. Lipscomb 142
5. Eastern Kentucky 134
6. Stetson 117
7. Jacksonville State 116
8. Jacksonville 114
9. North Florida 90
10. Central Arkansas 84
11. Austin Peay 60
12. North Alabama 34
13. Bellarmine 29
14. Queens 25

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball 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 671-408-3 overall record (.620) and a 228-118 (.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 93 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 46 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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 - Spring 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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