FORT MYERS, Fla. – With four games in the next four days, #29 FGCU (25-9, 2-4 ASUN) travels to Coral Gables, Fla., for a midweek matchup against Miami (15-17, 7-8 ACC) Wednesday at 6 p.m. before returning to Swanson Stadium for a three-game series against USC Upstate (14-20, 1-5 ASUN) this weekend.
 
Due to the holiday weekend, game one against the Spartans is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m., which will be followed by game two Friday at 6:30 p.m. and the series finale Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
FGCU will send junior right hander Peyton Gray (3-1, 4.03) to the mound in Wednesday's game to face Miami freshman Greg Veliz (3-2, 2.56). Gray will start what will likely be a staff day for the Eagles. Starters for both FGCU and USC Upstate this weekend will be announced at a later time.
 
Wednesday's matchup in Coral Gables will be broadcasted on the ACC Network Extra, and live stats will be available on Hurricansports.com. Thursday's series opener against USC Upstate will be streamed on ASUN.TV, and live stats for all three games this weekend will be available via Stat Broadcast.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MIAMI
Miami holds a 16-3 advantage in the in-state series, but FGCU claimed the first of three matchups with the Hurricanes this season by taking the cross-state rivals down, 3-0, in front of a Swanson Stadium record crowd of 2,074 on Mar. 29. The win marked FGCU's first in program history at home against Miami. FGCU's two wins in Coral Gables in the series have come against top-15 Miami teams as the Eagles defeated the #6 Hurricanes, 4-2, in 2012 and also took down #13 Miami, 8-1, in 2015.

SERIES HISTORY VS. USC UPSTATE
FGCU is 17-10 in the all-time series against USC Upstate and have won seven of nine games against the Spartans contested in Swanson Stadium. A year ago, the Spartans and Eagles met in Spartanburg and combined to score 77 runs in the three games. USC Upstate won the first two games, including a 21-18 victory in game two, before FGCU took the series finale, 15-13. USC Upstate's two wins to start last year's series marked just the second time the Spartans have won back-to-back games against the Eagles.

COACHING MATCHUP
FGCU founding head coach Dave Tollett has posted a 515-305-3 all-time record in his 15th season as the Eagles' skipper. Tollett, who secured his 500th win by defeating UNC Wilmington, 10-1, on Mar. 5, has guided the Eagles to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and has earned an equal amount of ASUN Coach of the Year awards. This week and weekend, Tollett matches up with 24-year Miami head coach Jim Morris and 20-year USC Upstate Skipper Matt Fincher. Morris has posted a 1,046-436-3 record at Miami and has taken the Hurricanes to 13 College World Series appearances. After also spending 12 season at Georgia Tech, he is 1,550-680-4 in his 36th overall season as a head coach. Fincher is 441-627 in his 20 seasons with the Spartans.
 
SCOUTING THE HURRICANES
Coming off a series win against Duke last weekend, Miami is 15-17 overall this season with a 7-8 record in conference play. The Hurricanes other series win in conference play came in the ACC opener against then #23 Georgia Tech.
 
Offensively, after hitting .298 as a team a year ago, Miami has gotten off to a slow start with a .209 average. Junior infielder Carl Chester leads the way with a .270 average and is coming off a 4-for-14 performance in the series against Duke. Sophomore third baseman Romy Gonzalez has provided the team's top power bat with six home runs and 22 RBI this season.
 
On the mound, Miami has turned to a trio of bullpen arms on many occasions this season. Sophomore Frankie Bartow has served as the team's closer with six saves in 14 appearances. Additionally, underclassmen Andrew Cabezas and Albert Maury Jr. have made 18 and 17 appearances, respectively, with ERA's of 2.83 and 3.10. 
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
With a midweek game against Furman prior to traveling to Fort Myers, USC Upstate enters the weekend series with a 14-20 overall record and 1-5 mark in conference play. The Spartans opened the ASUN season at home and won one of three games versus Lipscomb before being swept at Kennesaw State last weekend.
 
Offensively, USC Upstate ranks third in the conference with a .283 team average. Junior infielder Charlie Carpenter leads the way among everyday players with a .333 average in 32 game played and games started. Carpenter ranks tied for third in the conference with six home runs and fourth with 28 RBI. Junior outfielder J.J. Shimko has turned in a .318 average in 34 games played and ranks second on the team with 25 RBI. He leads the Spartans and ranks tied for second in the league with 12 RBI.
 
On the mound, the Spartans have struggled to a 5.56 staff ERA, which ranks seventh in the conference. Senior right hander Tyler Hathaway has made a team-most 17 relief appearances while logging 34.1 innings pitched. Fellow senior Eric Birklund has made 14 appearances out of the bullpen and ranks second on the team with a 3.12 ERA.
 
TALE OF TWO MONTHS
After going 7-2 in February and 17-1 during March, FGCU has started April with six losses in its last seven games, with each of the last four coming by one run. The Eagles' impressive run during March came during its toughest stretch of games this season. With notable wins against #1 FSU and #2 Florida, FGCU capped off a 13-game stretch against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams with an 11-2 record. With the win against the Seminoles, the Eagles not only took down its first top-ranked opponent in program history, but also finished off a 10-game stretch against #1 or #2 seeds from last year's tournament at 9-1.
 
THROWING UP ZEROES
FGCU turned in back-to-back shutouts with wins against Miami and Jacksonville at the end of March, marking the first time since 2014 the Eagles have shut out their opponents in back-to-back games. With a 3.02 staff ERA through 34 games this season, FGCU currently ranks 18th in the country in the category. A big reason the Green and Blue has been able to hold its opponents in check is command of the strike zone. With 294 strikeouts to go along with only 85 walks, the Eagles' 3.46 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks eighth in the NCAA.
 
MIDSEASON AWARDS
With the regular season just past its midway point, Tollett was named the Perfect Game Midseason Coach of the Year, while Kutter Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla./Indian River State/Okeechobee HS) earned Midseason All-American honors, it was announced last Thursday morning.

In 34 games this season, Tollett and the Eagles have already checked off a laundry list of program firsts. The team's 24-3 record to start the season far exceeded the program's previous Division I record and also surpassed FGCU's all-time best mark of 23-3 set in 2005.
 
Crawford is not only one of 10 starting pitchers across the country to be recognized as a Midseason All-American, but is also the lone member of the ASUN to be recognized and one of two non-Power Five pitchers on the list.
 
BATTLE FOR STATE SUPREMACY
FGCU is 4-2 in games versus Florida, FSU and Miami this season with two more road games against the Hurricanes. The Eagles entered last week a perfect 4-0 against the 'Big Three' opponents but dropped a pair of midweek games at FSU by one run. After also taking down in-state rival FAU at the end of April, the Eagles swept the then #2 Gators in a pair of midweek games on Mar. 7 and 8 before turning around the following week and defeating then #1 FSU. Additionally, after defeating cross-state rival Miami, 3-0, on Mar. 29, FGCU has now defeated the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes in the same season for the first time in program history.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Despite dropping six of its last seven games, FGCU remained ranked in one of six nationally-recognized polls as the NCBWA tabbed the Eagles #29 in this week's top-30. The Eagles had occupied the #9 spot in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll each of the last two weeks, which marked the highest ranking ever achieved by any FGCU athletics program.

500-WIN CLUB…AND COUNTING
Tollett joined the illustrious 500-win club as FGCU capped off its weekend sweep at UNC Wilmington with a 10-1 win on Mar. 5. After taking one of three at Stetson last weekend, Tollett has now pushed his win total to 515. 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 joined Kennesaw State's Mike Sansing and UNF's Smoke Laval as the only active head coaches in the league with 500 or more wins, and the trio was recently joined by Lipscomb's Jeff Forehand.
 
NCAA ACTIVE LEADER
In his final season with the Green and Blue, 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 (221), doubles (67), RBI (185), total bases (422) and walks (149). Additionally, Rivera ranks tied for fourth in at-bats (793) and sixth in hits (250).

ASUN WEEKLY HONORS
After pitching 7.0 shutout innings and leading FGCU to its first home win against Miami in program history on Mar. 29, Mario Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) was named the ASUN Baseball Pitcher of the Week. The award not only marked the first of the career for Leon, but was also the sixth total award and third Pitcher of the Week honor for the Green and Blue. The three Pitcher of the Week awards is the most since former Eagle Michael Murray took home the honor on four occasions during the 2014 season. A complete list of FGCU's weekly award winners from this season in included below.
 

Player of the Week	Pitcher of the Week
Richie Garcia (Feb. 20)	Kutter Crawford (Mar. 6)
Matt Reardon (Mar. 13)	Peyton Gray (Mar. 13)
Nick Rivera (Mar. 20)	Mario Leon (Apr. 3)

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	ASUN
1.	FGCU (2008-present)	323-221-1	164-87 (.653)
2.	UNF (2008-present)	308-233	136-110 (.553)
3.	Kennesaw State (2008-present)	286-260	147-97 (.602)
4.	Stetson (2008-present)	284-282	137-112 (.550)
5.	Lipscomb (2008-present)	270-283	127-121 (.512)
6.	Jacksonville (2008-present)	261-281	124-123 (.502)
7.	Mercer (2008-14)	243-156	115-82 (.584)
8.	USC Upstate (2008-present)	209-315	83-161 (.340)
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)	20-61	2-24 (.077)

 
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 games played, doubles, RBI and total bases, but also ranks in the top-10 in program history in a number of other offensive categories. The Cape Coral native ranks tied for first in games started (216), third in home runs (33), fifth in hits and seventh in runs scored (149).

CAREER GAMES PLAYED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	221
2.	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	214

CAREER GAMES STARTED

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	216
	Josh Upchurch (2006-09)	216
3.	Mikel Alvarez (2008-11)	212

CAREER RBI

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	185
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	180
	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	180

CAREER DOUBLES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	67
2.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	54
3.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	47
	Jason Louwsma (2005-06)	47
	Colton Bottomley (2013-16)	47

CAREER TOTAL BASES

1.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	422
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	418
	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	418

CAREER HOME RUNS

1.	Zach Maxfield (2009-11)	41
2.	Tim Roberson (2008-11)	40
3.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	33

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.	Nick Rivera (2013-present)	250

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)	149

 
Senior pitcher Sterling Koerner (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS) recently broke the program's career and single-season saves record with an ASUN-best 10 saves on the season. He is joined by Crawford, Garrett Anderson (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS), Josh Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) and Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Viera HS), who also make their way up a number of career lists.
 
CAREER SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	17
2.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	14
3.	Brady Anderson (2012-16)	11
4.	Jack Wagoner (2010-11)	9
	Harrison Wagoner (2011-13)	9
6.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	8

 
SINGLE SEASON SAVES

1.	Sterling Koerner (2017)	10
2.	Jack Wagoner (2010)	9
3.	Brady Anderson (2014)	7

 
CAREER APPEARANCES

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

LOWEST ERA (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	1.10
2.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	2.52
3.	Richard Bleier (2006-08)	2.70

 
CAREER FEWEST WALKS PER 9.0 IP (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Josh Dye (2015-present)	0.89
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	1.08
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)	1.67

 
MOST STRIKEOUTS PER 9.0 IP (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Chris Sale (2008-10)	11.53
2.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	10.98
3.	Brandon Bixler (2001-13)	10.91
4.	Ryan Williams (2004-06)	10.27
5.	Luis Pardo (2007)	10.21
6.	Kenton Hering (2016-17)	10.20

 
LOWEST OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE (MIN. 40 IP)

1.	Kutter Crawford (2017)	.170
2.	Brandon Bixler (2011-13)	.201
3.	Chris Cahil (2003-04)	.207
4.	Jordan Desguin (2015)	.216
5.	Clint Knoblauch (2012-16)	.232
6.	Kenton Hering (2016-17)	.232

 
CAREER GAMES FINISHED

1.	J.J. Crumbley (2005-08)	51
2.	Sterling Koerner (2014-present)	49
3.	Garrett Anderson (2014-present)	31

 
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.
 
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 515-305-3 record (.626) 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, 15 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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.