FORT MYERS, Fla. – Off to its best start in program history, the #24 FGCU baseball team (12-2) faces a quick turnaround after sweeping #2 Florida in the midweek as defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State (5-6) comes to Southwest Florida for a three-game series this weekend. The series opener at Swanson Stadium is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by game two Saturday at 6 p.m. and the finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
FGCU will stick with its rotation of a weekend ago as senior Garret Anderson (1-0, 3.00) will take the mound in the opener opposite Ohio State right hander Jake Post (1-1, 3.38). Reigning ASUN Pitcher of the Week Kutter Crawford (3-0, 1.35) will then toe the rubber against the Buckeyes' Ryan Feltner (0-2, 5.51) in game two, while southpaw Josh Dye (3-0, 1.86) will start the finale against Adam Neimeyer (1-2, 5.14). Last weekend at UNC Wilmington, the FGCU trio held the eighth-ranked offense from a season ago to two earned runs in 18.1 innings pitched.
 
The Buckeyes represent FGCU's fourth straight opponent that entered the 2016 NCAA Tournament as either a #1 or #2 seed. Dating back to its midweek against FAU on Feb. 28, FGCU has won six straight games against such opponents and eight straight overall.
 
Fans can track the action from all three games this weekend on Stat Broadcast. Additionally, Friday's series opener will be broadcasted on ASUN.TV. FGCU faithful are encouraged to wear Green tomorrow night as the contest has been deemed a greenout by the FGCU Marketing Department.

THE MATCHUP
This weekend marks the first ever meeting between the Eagles and Buckeyes. FGCU founding head coach Dave Tollett has posted a 502-298-3 all-time record in his 15th season as the Eagles' skipper. Tollett has guided the Eagles to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and has earned an equal amount of ASUN Coach of the Year awards. This weekend, he matches up with Ohio State head coach Greg Beals, who has posted a 208-151-1 record in his seventh season with the Buckeyes and 451-353-1 career record as a head coach. In 2016, Beals led Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 as the Buckeyes earned the #2 seed in the Louisville Regional after winning the Big Ten Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
After advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 a season ago, Ohio State is off to a 5-6 start to the 2017 campaign. It's been a season of hot and cold for the Buckeyes thus far as the team started 2-0 but dropped six of its next seven games. However, Ohio State's lone win during the stretch came against #4 Oregon State and is the Beavers only blemish on its schedule this season. After dropping the series opener at Campbell last weekend, the Buckeyes won the last two contests and claimed the series against the Camels.
 
Offensively, Ohio State has been led by junior outfielder Tre' Gantt and senior infielder Zach Ratcliff, who have posted batting averages of .325 and .310, respectively. Ratcliff is also the Buckeyes top power bat as he has hit four home runs and driven in nine through 11 games this season.
 
On the bump, right handers Kyle Michalik and Seth Kinker have been the Buckeyes most used arms out of the bullpen with four appearances apiece. Michalik has yet to allow an earned run in 3.1 innings pitched, while Kinker has posted a 2.0 ERA in 9.0 innings pitched and has recorded a team best pair of saves.
 
LAST TIME OUT
With two outs and a runner on first, Florida's Jonathan India sent a drive to deep right center field, but FGCU centerfielder Gage Morey made a SportsCenter Top-10 worthy catch to end the game as the #24 Eagles (12-2) completed a midweek sweep of #2 Florida (10-4) with a 3-2 win at McKethan Stadium Wednesday night.

Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) got a great jump as the 2-2 pitch jumped off the bat of India and covered nearly 40 yards of ground in center field to make the catch as he dove onto the warning track.

With the win, the Eagles not only completed the two-game sweep of the Gators, but also handed Florida its first home loss of the season.

FGCU starting pitcher Peyton Gray (1-0, 6.00) went a season-high 6.0 strong innings and allowed one earned run on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Gray (Columbus, Ind./Gulf Coast State/Columbus East HS) allowed the first three Gators of the game to reach base and take a 1-0 lead. However, he retired 18 of the next 19 batters he faced to turn in a gem of a game from the mound and earn the win.
 
500-WIN CLUB…AND COUNTING
Tollett became the ASUN's newest member of the 500-win club as FGCU capped off its weekend sweep at UNC Wilmington last Sunday. With the aforementioned two wins against #2 Florida earlier this week, Tollett has totaled 502 wins and has the Eagles off to the best start in program history. He has recorded 30 or more wins in 11 of his 14 seasons, including a program record 41 wins in 2006 and has led the Eagles to a winning mark in conference play in eight of nine seasons in the ASUN. Tollett joins Kennesaw State's Mike Sansing and UNF's Smoke Laval as the only active head coaches in the league with 500 or more wins. Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand is right on Tollett's heels as he entered the season with a 487 careers wins and has the Bisons off to an 8-4 start in 2017.
 
KEEP IT ROLLING
After becoming the first team to sweep UNC Wilmington in a home non-conference series since 1998 last weekend, the Eagles appeared at #24 in Collegiate Baseball's latest national poll released Monday afternoon. It marks the first time since 2013 that FGCU has appeared in the national rankings as the Eagles are ranked among the likes of defending national champion Coastal Carolina and perennial powerhouses Vanderbilt and Cal State Fullerton. Now, after defeating #2 Florida in back-to-back games this week and pushing its win streak to eight game – its most since winning 10 straight in 2013 – the Green and Blue appears at #11 in the RPI and is off to the program's best start of all-time with a 12-2 record.
 
TORRID STRETCH
FGCU's three-game series with Bethune-Cookman from Feb. 24-26 began a stretch of 13 straight games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams. After most recently sweeping #2 Florida in the midweek, the Eagles are 8-1 in its first nine games of the torrid stretch. Beginning with the midweek matchup against FAU, the Green and Blue will play in 10 consecutive games against teams that entered the 2016 postseason as either #1 or #2 seeds. Thus far, FGCU has won its first six games of that stretch.
 
NCAA ACTIVE LEADER
In his final season with the Green and Blue, redshirt senior designated hitter Nick Rivera (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot HS) continues to not only climb FGCU's all-time records, but also ranks among the top-five in active NCAA players in a number of offensive categories. Rivera leads the nation in career games played (201), doubles (64), RBI (167) and total bases (383) while ranking tied for the lead in walks (131). He also ranks third in at bats (728) and fifth in hits (228).

ASUN PITCHER OF THE WEEK
After tossing 7.0 shutout innings against UNC Wilmington last Saturday, Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS) has been named the ASUN Pitcher of the Week. The junior right hander held last year's eighth-ranked offense to only six hits and struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. The award was the first of the season and career for the right hander, and it marks FGCU's first Pitcher of the Week award since former hurlers Brady Anderson and Michael Murray took home the honor in 2015. It also marks the second weekly recognition for the Green and Blue this season as freshman infielder Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) was named the ASUN Player of the Week after opening weekend.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Since joining the ASUN in 2008, FGCU has not only won more regular season conference championships (four) than any other member of the ASUN, but has also won more overall and league games than any other conference opponent. The following is list of overall and conference records for teams that have competed in the ASUN since 2008.
 

No.	School	Overall	A-Sun
1.	FGCU (2008-present)	310-214-1	162-83 (.661)
2.	UNF (2008-present)	295-225	132-108 (.550)
3.	Kennesaw State (2008-present)	277-249	143-95 (.601)
4.	Stetson (2008-present)	274-272	132-111 (.543)
5.	Lipscomb (2008-present)	261-273	124-118 (.512)
6.	Jacksonville (2008-present)	249-273	119-122 (.494)
7.	Mercer (2008-14)	243-156	115-82 (.584)
8.	USC Upstate (2008-present)	202-303	82-156 (.345)
9.	ETSU (2008-14)	197-201	88-110 (.444)
10.	Belmont (2008-12)	158-139	78-68 (.534)
11.	Campbell (2008-11)	93-125	31-85 (.267)
12.	NKU (2013-15)	39-118	14-61 (.187)
13.	Gardner-Webb (2008)	29-30	15-18 (.455)
14.	NJIT (2016)	19-44	2-18 (.100)

 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Along with his aforementioned NCAA active ranks, Rivera has already made his mark in FGCU program history as he not only holds the career record for doubles, but also ranks in the top-10 in program history in a number of other offensive categories. The Cape Coral native ranks third in home runs (29) and RBI, fourth in games played (201) and games started (196), fifth in total bases, seventh in hits and tied for seventh in runs scored (137).

CAREER GAMES PLAYED

1.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
2.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	214
3.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	205
4.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	201

CAREER GAMES STARTED

1.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
2.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	212
3.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	204
4.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	196

CAREER HITS

1.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	316
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	311
3.	Jake Noll (2013-16)	267
4.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	259
5.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	247
6.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	241
7.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	228

CAREER RUNS SCORED

1.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	237
2.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	202
3.	Stephen Wickens (2008-11)	178
4.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	158
5.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	156
6.	Jake Noll (2013-16)	151
7.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	137
	Tyler Selesky (2013-16)	137

CAREER RBI

1.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	180
	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	180
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	167

CAREER HOME RUNS

1.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	41
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	40
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	29

CAREER TOTAL BASES

1.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	418
	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	418
3.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	412
4.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	400
5.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	383

 
Like Rivera, senior pitchers Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) and Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) make their way up the list of a number of top-10 career pitching records, while Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) tops the list in fewest walks per 9.0 innings pitched.

CAREER APPEARANCES

1.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	86
2.	RJ Brown (2010-13)	82
3.	Brady Anderson (2012-present)	76
4.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	75
5.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	71

CAREER SAVES

1.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	14
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	11
	Brady Anderson (2012-16)	11
4.	Jack Wagoner (2010-11)	9
	Harrison Wagoner (2011-13)	9
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	8

 
CAREER GAMES FINISHED

1.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	51
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	38
3.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	31

 
CAREER FEWEST WALKS PER 9.0 IP

1.	Josh Dye (2015-present)	1.04
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	1.16
3.	Jason Short (2003-05)	1.42
4.	Michael Murray (2013-15)	1.46
5.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	1.60
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	1.78

2017 SCHEDULE
The Eagles' schedule features eight teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Base­ball Tournament including a pair of College World Series participants in preseason #2 Florida and preseason #8 Miami along with Super Regional participant and preseason #3 FSU. The five remaining NCAA Tournament teams include defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State, defending ASUN Tournament Champion Stetson, defending CAA Champion UNC Wilmington, defending C-USA Champion FAU and defending MEAC Tournament Champion Bethune-Cookman. Twenty-six of FGCU's first 30 games will be contested in Southwest Florida with 24 games scheduled to be played at Swanson Stadium and two additional games at JetBlue Park, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox. From Feb. 24 through Mar. 15, the Eagles are scheduled to play 13 consecutive games against five of the aforementioned NCAA Tournament teams.
 
TICKETS
Single game and season ticket packages for the 2017 FGCU baseball season are now on sale. Season tickets for games contested at Swanson Stadium can be purchased for $99, while single game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (12 and under), military and groups. For questions or more information, please contact the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145. Additonally, tickets for games #2 FSU can be purchased online by clicking here or by calling the JetBlue Park Ticket Office at 239-334-4700.
 
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.

DAVE TOLLETT
In 15 seasons of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 502-298-3 record (.625) as the only head coach in the program's history. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets and has coached 42 All-Conference selections, 27 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 19 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, two ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one five-time MLB All-Star.

#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 visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.