FORT MYERS, Fla. – Following a historic 2017 season the FGCU baseball team begins 2018 with a four-game set against the Eastern Michigan Eagles Feb. 16 through Feb. 18. The series is slated to begin with a doubleheader Feb. 16, first pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m. Following the season-opening twin bill, two ball clubs will meet at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday to conclude the series.

BLUEOUT
Fans are encouraged to wear blue to the season-opener as part of a Blueout.

TICKETS
Tickets are on sale now for the 2018 baseball season and fans have two options to see the Eagles. Single-game tickets remain $7 for adults and $5 for youth (3-12), military, and alumni (with valid ID). New this season is a season punch-pass, allowing fans to utilize the pass anywhere from one game for 30 people to 30 games for one person. The flexible option can be purchased for $99 ($3.30 per punch).

SERIES HISTORY
FGCU won the only prior meeting between the two clubs, a 12-5 victory last season in Fort Myers. In that game, FGCU jumped on EMU with eight runs in the first four innings and tacked on four later in the day. Spencer Levine (Miami, Fla./Miami Killian Senior HS/Seminole State College) drove in three runs on three hits to lead FGCU offensively while Josh Dye (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) got the start and the win, allowing two runs on four hits over three innings.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game One: Josh Dye (FGCU) vs. Davis Feldman (EMU)
Game Two: Mario Leon (FGCU) vs. Brad Allen (EMU)
Game Three: TDB (FGCU) vs. Jackson Shaver (EMU)
Game Four: Tyler Shuck (FGCU) vs. Luke De Venney (EMU)

SCOUTING EMU
After making an appearance in the MAC Championship Game for the first time since 2008, the Eastern Michigan Eagles will feature 15 newcomers this season while returning only 13 letter winners from last season. EMU loses their top-three hitters from last season in terms of average, but welcome Nick Jones back, who finished third on the team with 30 RBIs to along with his .274 average. Zachary Owings also returns after hitting .273 with 19 driven in.

Brad Allen tallied nearly 100 innings pitched last season, compiling a 2-7 record on the mound. Feldman went 2-5 in 2017 with a 4.79 ERA and Luke De Venney went 0-2 in limited action. The Eagles' Saturday starter, Shaver, is a junior college transfer.

CHAMPS 5X
2017 was a magical season for the Green and Blue that ended in the program's first Division I NCAA Tournament berth. The Eagles ended the year 43-20, which included a midweek sweep over #2 Florida, single wins over #1 Florida State, Miami, and a three-game sweep at RV UNC Wilmington. The wins over Miami, FSU, and UF marked the first time FGCU defeated all three programs in the same season.

Reaching as high as #9 in the polls, the highest of any program at FGCU, the Eagles struggled in April but bounced back to finish third in the ASUN. During the ASUN Tournament, FGCU won four games in a span of 29 hours for their first tournament crown.

The Green and Blue earned the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, defeating Michigan 10-6 before losses to Davidson and UNC ended their season.
The tournament title adds to FGCU's four regular season titles.

KEY RETURNERS
Despite losing their leading batter for average and its biggest run producer in program history, the Eagle still return a slew of talent in 2018. Included in that is Alex Brait (Viera, Fla./Viera HS), who leads all returners with a .296 average. Levine and Eli Lovell (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest HS/Kansas City Kansas Community College) will look to provide the pop offensively, combining for 28 doubles, 11 home runs, and 78 RBIs last season.

Also returning are outfielders Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) and Gage Morey (West Palm Beach, Fla./PB Central HS) who both hit above .270 last season with a combined nine doubles, seven homes runs, 46 RBIs.

FGCU's string of stellar freshman continued with Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) last season. The third baseman was named the ASUN's Freshman of the Year and was later named a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American after hitting .279 while driving in an FGCU freshman record 37 runs.

On the mound, FGCU returns three key arms in Dye, Mario Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) and Kenton Hering (Melbourne, Fla./Viera HS/Eastern Florida State College). Dye led the Eagles last season with eight victories behind a 3.23 ERA and a 76-13 K-BB ratio. Leon meanwhile, produced five victories over nearly 60 innings of work, striking out 67.

Hering was a dominant member of FGCU's bullpen in 2017, sitting down 77 batters in 59.2 innings against only 19 walks. Hering made 30 appearances for the Green and Blue last year, recording a 1.96 ERA while winning seven games.

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 a list of overall and conference records for teams that have competed in the ASUN since 2008.
 

#	School	Overall	ASUN
1	FGCU ('08-pres)	341-232-1	175-91
2	UNF ('08-pres)	319-245	144-117
3	Stetson ('08-pres)	295-292	147-117
4	Kennesaw State ('08-pres)	296-275	153-106
5	Lipscomb ('08-pres)	281-297	133-130
6	Jacksonville ('08-pres)	279-289	135-127
7	Mercer ('08-'14)	243-156	115-82
8	USC Upstate ('08-pres)	219-326	89-170
9	ETSU ('08-'14)	197-201	88-110
10	Belmont ('08-'12)	158-139	78-68
11	Campbell ('08-'11)	93-125	31-85
12	Northern Kentucky ('13-'15)	39-118	13-61
13	Gardner-Webb ('08)	29-30	15-18
14	NJIT ('16-pres)	26-76	4-27

 
KENTON, WITH A K
Redshirt-senior Kenton Hering's second season wearing Green and Blue put him among elite company with other arms that have come through Fort Myers. With 77 strikeouts in 59.2 innings, Hering brought his K/9 inning total to 10.61, good for third all-time at FGCU behind current Minnesota Twins product Brandon Bixler (10.91; FGCU  2011-13) and six-time MLB All-Star Chris Sale (11.53; 2008-10).

Hering's seven saves last season also put him seventh all-time in FGCU history while his opponent's batting average of .223 is good for fifth.

RECEIVING VOTES
For the fifth-consecutive year, FGCU was receiving votes in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I Preseason Poll. The ASUN was represented by two teams as Stetson was ranked 37th in the poll. Additionally, as the ASUN Preseason Honors and Awards were released in January, the Green and Blue were chosen to finish second in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll. The Eagles garnered 55 points and one first place vote. Stetson led the way with 63 points and seven first-place votes.

2018 SCHEDULE
Among the 55 games on the slate, six are against NCAA Tournament teams from last season and 13 are against RPI Top 100 programs from 2017.

The defending national champions Florida highlights a crop of NCAA Tournament tested teams that also includes Bethune-Cookman and USF. For the fifth-straight season, Miami travels to Fort Myers as part of a 32 game home slate. Last season, the contest was played in front of a Swanson Stadium record 2,074 fans who witnessed the Eagles defeat the 'Canes 3-0. That came after FGCU knocked off Florida and Florida State, marking the first time in program history FGCU beat all three teams in the same season.

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
Following his 15th season of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 533-316-3 record (.626) as the only head coach in the program's history and is coming off the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as #9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 49 All-Conference selections, 29 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 15 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, three 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.