FORT MYERS, Fla. – Fresh off its biggest win of the season at No. 7 Florida State on Wednesday, the FGCU baseball team (17-16-1, 4-2 A-Sun) readies to welcome Jacksonville (15-17, 2-1 A-Sun) to Swanson Stadium for a three game set which is scheduled to begin on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles have won each of their first two series' against Atlantic Sun opponents so far this spring and sit in a tie for second place with North Florida (25-11, 4-2 A-Sun) while Jacksonville is just behind in third place.

JACKSONVILLE
The Eagles will return to Swanson Stadium to continue A-Sun play by welcoming Jacksonville (15-17, 2-1 A-Sun) for a three game set beginning with a 6:30 p.m. tilt on Friday night. JU went 21-33 last season and gathered a 13-13 A-Sun record before meeting FGCU in the A-Sun Tournament in an elimination game. Jack English (Delray Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) was clutch when his team needed him the most as he did not allow a hit until the 7th inning, and his only two hits allowed on the evening both careened off FGCU defenders. The junior was sporadic at times as he walked four and hit two more, but the sophomore right hander battled through several early jams and after tossing 136 pitches he wrapped up his first career complete game to eliminate the Dolphins. FGCU leads the all-time series 14-8.

Jacksonville will feature defending A-Sun Pitcher of the Week Michael Baumann. The freshman right-hander went a career-high 6.2 innings for the Dolphins, never conceding a run. Baumann picked the win as JU earned the victory to open its series with Lipcomb. The Mahtomedi, Minn. Native gave up just three hits and two walks, while striking out seven Bison Batters. He leads the A-Sun with a 2.01 ERA.

HEAD COACH MATCHUP
In 13 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 451-254-3 record as the only head coach in the program's history. He will match up with Tim Montez who is in his second season as a head coach at JU after spending the previous eight seasons as the Dolphins pitching coach. He has built a 36-50 record in those two seasons with a 15-14 record in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT
Thanks in large part to Nick Deckert's best outing of the season on the mound, the FGCU baseball team to a 5-0 victory over No. 7 Florida State (26-9, 11-4 ACC) on the road on Wednesday afternoon, giving FGCU its second win over a top 15 opponent this season. The Eagles would outhit the Seminoles 10-7 and Nick Rivera would smoke his sixth long ball of the season to highlight the offense.

FGCU defeated No. 13 Miami, 8-1, on the road as well earlier this season and have now defeated Florida State and Miami in the same season for the second time in program history. The feat was last accomplished in 2012 when the Eagles defeated No. 2 Florida State, 5-1, and No. 6 Miami, 4-2. The Eagles now have 13 wins over nationally ranked opponents since joining Division I but have never gathered more than three in any one year. FGCU will have two more cracks against a nationally ranked opponent when it plays a home-and-home against No. 17 Florida Atlantic beginning with a single midweek matchup at Swanson Stadium next Tuesday. The second bout will come in Boca Raton on Apr. 28. FGCU is now 4-8 this season against teams that are either ranked or receiving votes in the national polls.
 
Nick Deckert (Tallahassee, Fla./Tallahassee CC) would make the start of the Green and Blue in his hometown and put forth his best effort of the season by far, tossing 5.1 scoreless against the No. 7 team in the land, giving up just three hits and striking out four. He would surrender a hit to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the first and cruise from there, not giving up another hit until there was one out in the sixth. He would strand three FSU runners during that span and would leave the game with two on in favor of Jordan Desguin (Newport Beach, Cal./Newport Harbor) who would work out of the sixth with no damage and go on to toss 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with one strikeout. Adam Eggnatz (Tampa, Fla./Middle Georgia College) made his second relief appearance of the season and closed out the final two frames to lock up the victory.

Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) set the tone offensively for FGCU as the junior went 1-3 with a homerun, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Hitting behind Rivera was Jake Noll (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte HS) who went 2-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, the fourth such streak of his career and second longest behind his 14-game stretch earlier this season. Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) would also collect two hits while Brady Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) would go 1-4, settling his team-leading batting average at .412.

NICK RIVERA
The red-hot Nick Rivera has put together a career year so far, having built a .371 batting average to go with 11 doubles, six homeruns, which are just two shy of his career-best mark of eight, a team-leading 39 RBI and a .621 slugging percentage to go with a .472 slugging percentage. His batting average ranks fourth in the A-Sun while his RBI total is second and his home run total sits in a tie for fourth. The junior has belted multiple homeruns in a game on two separate occasions with one of them being at No. 13 Miami in an 8-1 win. He has also been named Atlantic Sun Player of the Week once.

MIKE MURRAY
The Preseason Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year has not matched his brilliance from a year ago but has continued to roll on the mound nonetheless. He has posted a 3-4 record with a 4.13 ERA to go with 53 strikeouts which are just 26 shy of his 2014 total already. He has totaled 21 wins in his career which rank fourth in FGCU history and are only four back of the program record of 25 set by current pitching coach Pete Woodworth. He has been named Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week once this season and is holding hitters to just a .276 batting average with a miniscule eight walks to his credit.

JAKE NOLL
Noll was tabbed as the Preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year and has certainly performed up to that billing after being named the 2014 Louisville Slugger National Freshman Player of the Year. He has posted a .338 batting average after transitioning from the leadoff spot a season ago to primarily the No. 3 and 4 spots in the lineup this year. He has collected a team-high 47 hits with 25 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a homerun and 22 RBI while also remaining a threat on the base-paths with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts.

BRADY ANDERSON
The junior has had perhaps the best season of his career to this point serving both on the mound and in the batter's box for the first time since his freshman campaign. Anderson has maintained the No. 2 slot in the rotation for the Green and Blue, posting a 3-0 record with a 3.65 ERA and 33 strikeouts against just 6 six. He has kept hitters off balance, holding them to .267 average in 49.1 innings. He has also made seven relief appearances in addition to his five starts. Anderson transitioned back into the everyday role just before conference play began and has been a spark in the lineup. He has produced a .412 batting average in 34 at bats with 14 hits. He has also walked three times to produce a .487 on base percentage. He served primarily as just a DH until yesterday when he made his first start of the season in left field.

FRESHMEN
FGCU has found success by learning on a collection of freshmen this season after losing some key contributors to graduation and the MLB draft following the record-setting 2014 season. Zach Spivey and Matt Reardon (Palm City, Flal./Martin County) have been the most impactful with a combined 64 starts between them. Spivey has served as the primary left fielder for the Green and Blue while Reardon has moved over to shortstop after spending the first part of the season as the second baseman. Spivey is hitting .301 in his debut campaign with six doubles and eight RBI while Reardon is hitting .282 in the leadoff spot with 16 RBI and four doubles. Zachary Orchard (Cambridge, Ontario/Jacob Hespeler SS) and Kyle Gilbert (Lake Mary, Fla./Seminole HS) have each been contributors in both the catcher and DH roles. Gilbert has hit .193 with four RBI in 13 starts and 24 appearances while Orchard has come on of late to hit .243 in just 10 starts.

On the mound, Devin Smeltzer (Voorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) and Josh Dye (Deland, Fla./Deland HS) have combined to make 13 starts and four relief appearances while striking out 36. Garrison Vandeventer (Ocala, Fla./North Marian HS) has been the top freshman arm out of the bullpen for the Eagles. He has made six appearances for a total of 4.1 innings, posting a 2.08 ERA with two strikeouts.

SOPHOMORE RELIEVERS
Garrett Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto HS) and Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carrol HS) emerged as the top arms out of the bullpen for FGCU a year ago and carried over those roles into this season as the two have combined to make 28 total appearances while Koerner has made one start. Only Mike Murray and Brady Anderson have thrown more innings than Koerner who has been brilliant in his sophomore season, tossing 41.0 frames with a 3.73 ERA and a career-high 39 strikeouts which rank second on the team against a staggeringly low three walks. The Fort Pierce native has built a 3-3 record with one save while holding opponents to a .276 mark at the plate. Garrett has produced a 3.75 ERA with a 2-3 record and an FGCU best three saves. He has collected 23 punch outs and just five walks while holding opponents to ten runs over 24.0 innings.

ATLANTIC SUN STANDINGS
Stetson, 3-0 (18-16)
North Florida, 4-2 (25-11)
FGCU, 4-2 (17-16-1)
Jacksonville, 2-1 (15-17)
Lipscomb, 1-2 (19-11)
Kennesaw State, 2-4 (16-16)
USC Upstate, 2-4 (11-22)
Northern Kentucky, 0-3 (10-18)
*Top Six Team Advance to A-Sun Championship Tournament

#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.

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.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 12+ seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 451-254-3 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.