FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the first time in program history, the FGCU baseball team (8-8-1) will host nationally ranked Miami (10-6, 1-2 ACC) at Swanson Stadium and the game will take place tomorrow evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. It will be the Eagles' second of three meetings this season with the Hurricanes.

In last week's meeting with Miami, FGCU collected 13 hits against No. 11 Miami's nine but would come up short on the road, falling to the Hurricanes 7-3. Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carrol HS) made the first stat of his career on Wednesday night and struggled a bit over 2.2 innings on the hill, surrendering four earned runs, five total without striking out a batter after coming into the game with 26. He would, however, avoid any walks and still has yet to issue a free pass this season. Jack English (Delray Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) took over in the third and cruised through the next 4.0 innings in his best performance of the season by far. He would strike out four Hurricanes while giving up just one hit to hold off Miami in the middle innings. Three other FGCU relievers would combine to toss 1.1 innings and allow two more runs while walking six and striking out none.

Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) had the best game of his young career on Wednesday night, going 3-4 at the plate with a run scored. Brian Pruett (Sarasota, Fla./Coastal Carolina) also sprayed three hits and scored a run while Adam Eggnatz (Tampa, Fla./Middle Georgia College) and Matt Reardon (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) each collected two. Colton Bottomley (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS) would drive in two of FGCU's three runs and finish the night 1-5.

Nick Deckert (Tallahassee, Fla./Tallahassee CC) will make his second start on the mound for the Eagles on Tuesday. In his last start, the senior tossed 4.0 innings of four-hit baseball while allowing two runs and striking out five at South Florida. Deckert has thrown a total of 7.0 innings this season with a 6.43 ERA while striking out eight. Last season he achieved a 7-5 record with a 3.72 ERA and 76 strikeouts which ranked second on the team behind only All-American Mike Murray (West Palm Beach, Fla./Forrest Hill HS).

HEAD COACH MATCHUP
In 13 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 442-246-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history. He will match up with Jim Morris who is in his 22nd season and won National Titles in 1999 and 2001. A three-time national coach of the year, Morris has compiled a 933-366-3 record since arriving in 1994.

SCOUTING MIAMI
Miami finished the 2014 season with the No. 17 RPI in the nation. The Canes streaked to a 45-20 record in 2014 with a 24-6 record in the ACC, claiming the ACC Regular Season Championship before advancing to the NCAA Tournament where they fell in the regional.

Miami dropped two of three to No. 17 Louisville over the weekend in its first trio of ACC games of 2015. George Iskenderian leads the team with a .400 batting average through 16 games with 24 hits, 5 doubles, a triple and nine RBI while going 6-6 stealing bases. Ricky Eusebio is hitting .353 and Edgar Michelangeli along with Garrett Kennedy is hitting .333. Three other Canes are all hitting above .300 while two other players in the lineup have 10+ RBI. Preseason All-American catcher Zack Collins is hitting just .232 with two homeruns, three doubles and a team-best 13 RBI.

Ryan Otero will made his second start of the year on Tuesday night and it will be his sixth appearance overall. He boasts a 0-0 record with a 5.23 ERA in 10.1 innings. He has allowed 10 hits and six runs while issuing walks and striking out four. Opponents are hitting .250 off of Otero.

ADAM EGGNATZ
Eggnatz has had the most notable breakout season of any FGCU player in the lineup this year. The senior has hit .404 this season 57 at-bats after accumulating just 46 all of last season. He has collected 23 hits, a double, a triple and 11 RBI while building an eight-game hitting streak. He has also stolen three bags this season while maintaining an on base percentage of .452. In four games last week, Eggnatz hit .643 opposite Miami and Western Michigan.

Eggnatz also emerged late last season as a viable option on the mound out of the bullpen. In 2014 he appeared in two games, tossing 2.0 innings without allowing a run and striking out four. In his first and only appearance so far this season, the Tampa native threw 2.2 innings of scoreless relief and struck out four while giving up just three hits without walking a batter.  

FRESHMEN
Two freshman position players have stood out among the rest for the FGCU. Spivey has exploded out the gate, hitting .277 in 14 games, spending most of his time in left field. He had a career performance on Wednesday night in Miami when he went 3-4 with a run scored against the nationally ranked Hurricanes. He has collected 13 hits which include four doubles accounting for a .362 slugging percentage. He is also 1-1 stealing bases.

Spivey's classmate, Reardon, has also been very good in the early parts of 2015. He has hit .288 in many different spots in the lineup while serving as the everyday second baseman. The Palm City native has sprayed 17 hits in 16 starts with eight RBI to go with a .394 on base percentage.

JAKE NOLL
Noll has continued to be the spark plug for FGCU at the top of the lineup. He has picked up right where he left off a season ago, leading the Eagles with 23 hits already through 17 games with a .329 batting average which ranks third on the team. He has also ripped three doubles, driven in 10 runs, stole five bases in six attempts and hit the first home run of his career last weekend. The sophomore made the move from second to third base this season and has been able to produce a .414 slugging percentage to go with a .400 on base percentage while also creating 6.63 runs per nine innings. After closing the 2014 season on a 23-game reached-base streak Noll has built a 12-game streak this season which is also a true hitting streak. Last season Noll built a hitting streak as long as 13 games on two separate occasions.

LAST TIME OUT
FGCU scored 15 runs on 15 hits on Sunday afternoon then rode a great performance on the mound from freshman Devin Smeltzer (Voorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) to a series sweep of Western Michigan (5-7) by a score of 15-7.

Smeltzer rolled to the first victory of his career on Sunday. The freshman tossed 6.2 innings and allowed four run on seven hits while striking out five. Four relievers would guide FGCU the rest of the way. At the plate it was a weekend to remember for FGCU who came into the weekend hitting just .255 as a team. Eggnatz added three more hits on Sunday afternoon giving him seven for the weekend and bumping his average up to .404 and extending his season-best hitting streak to nine games. Noll also extended his hit streak to 12 games, going 1-3 with a pair of RBI. There would be five Eagles that would pick up multiple hits on Sunday six who would drive in multiple runs.

NEXT UP
The first weekend road trip for the Eagles will take place Mar. 13-15 with a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to visit the Cornhuskers (7-5) for the first time in program history. Nebraska racked up 41 wins last season with 18 coming in conference play and would advance all the way to the Big Ten title game. Despite a loss in the conference championship game, Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Regional but were knocked out by Cal-State Fullerton.

2015 SCHEDULE
The 2015 FGCU baseball schedule will feature six teams that participated in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Tournament, three conference tournament champions and one NCAA Super Regional participant. The Eagles will play 16 of their first 18 games on campus and a total of 37 at home this season.

The six NCAA Tournament participants are MEAC Champion Bethune-Cookman, Florida State, defending Atlantic Sun Tournament Champion and NCAA Super Regional participant Kennesaw State, Miami, Nebraska and MAAC Champion Siena. A total of 15 games are scheduled against those six programs with 10 taking place on the road.

ATLANTIC SUN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Eagles will once again host the Atlantic Sun Championship Tournament at Swanson Stadium this season. The event is set to take place May 20-23 and the top six teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the championship and compete in a double-elimination style tournament to determine the A-Sun's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles are four-time A-Sun Regular Season Champions with the most recent title coming in 2014.

2014-15 RECRUITING CLASS
FGCU baseball's 2014-15 recruiting class has been tabbed by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the same publication that named second baseman Jake Noll the National Freshman Player of the Year in 2014 and FGCU alum Chris Sale the 2010 National Player of the Year, as the No. 38 class in the nation. The Eagles outclassed well-known national powers such as California, Texas A&M, Auburn, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Baylor as well as defending Atlantic Sun Tournament Champion and 2014 NCAA Super Regional participant Kennesaw State.

#DRAFTCITY
The Eagles would have a total of three players taken in the 2014 MLB draft, Junior outfielder Michael Suchy (Bradenton, Fla./Southeast HS), Junior third-baseman/pitcher Zack Tillery (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and Redshirt-Junior, left-handed reliever Ryan Atwood (Austin, Texas/Westwood HS/Navarro College). The Eagles have now produced 22 draft picks in their history with the most notable being 2014 AL Cy Young Award Finalist and three-time All-Star Chris Sale who was chosen in the first round, 13th overall by the Chicago White Sox in 2010. Suchy became the second-highest FGCU player ever taken when he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth round in last June's draft and is one of just seven players in FGCU history to be chosen in the top ten rounds. The Eagles would have a program record seven players selected during the 2013 draft. Freshman left-hander Devin Smeltzer is the lone FGCU player on the roster this season who has been drafted previously. He was selected in the 33rd round of the 2014 draft by the San Diego Padres but instead opted to attend FGCU.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 12 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 442-246-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four A-Sun Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 35 All-Conference selections, 22 draft picks, 14 current minor leaguers, four A-Sun Pitchers of the Year, three All-Americans, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one MLB All-Star.

#WINGSUP
Fans are encouraged to download the brand-new Wings Up mobile app in conjunction with SuperFanU. The fully-customized loyalty-rewards platform allows fans to check in at each of FGCU's sporting events to earn points throughout the school year toward exclusive prizes that can't be offered anywhere else.

FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the baseball team on Twitter @FGCU_Baseball, Instagram @FGCU_Baseball or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUBaseball. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year 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.