Daytona Beach, Fla. – For the first time in 2018, the FGCU baseball team hits the road to face both Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. A three-game series with the Wildcats opens in Daytona Beach Friday evening before concluding with a Sunday matinee. FGCU then travels back across the state to Tallahassee to meet Florida A&M for a two-game midweek series Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
At this time no live stats will be available however Friday's matchup is scheduled to be streamed on Facebook Live through B-CU Athletics.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU leads the all-time series 14-10 including a 6-4 edge away from Fort Myers. Included in that record is a stretch of eight wins in 10 chances since 2014. The Eagles took two from the Wildcats last season in Southwest Florida.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have only dropped one contest all-time to Florida A&M in nine total games. The Rattlers only win came last season, a 14-9 decision in the backend of a doubleheader. 
 
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Bethune-Cookman:
Game One: Mario Leon (FGCU) vs. Tyler Norris (B-CU)
Game Two: Josh Dye (FGCU) vs. Jeremy Adams (B-CU)
Game Three: TBD (FGCU) vs. TBD (B-CU)
 
Matchups for Florida A&M have yet to be determined by the respective coaching staffs.

SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN
Having dropped three-straight, the Wildcats enter the weekend 3-7. Led by Kyle Corbin, Bethune-Cookman is hitting .273 as a team with two players hitting above .366. The aforementioned Corbin enters the weekend hitting at a .367 clip followed closely by Joseph Fernandez at .366. Danny Rodriguez leads the team with three of the club's six home runs.

Pitching has been the Achilles Heel early in the season for B-CU. The Wildcats have a team ERA of 8.01 through 10 games. Both announced starters have ERAs above 9.00.

SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
The Rattlers split their midweek series with FIU and will host Brown over the weekend before the Eagles come to town. At 5-6, the Rattlers bring the potential to score plenty of runs. Last week, Florida A&M scored 21 runs against Alcorn State and followed with an 11 run outburst the next day. Early in the season, Florida A&M boasts eight players hitting above .300 and hit .307 as a team.

On the mound, the Rattlers bring a 6.42 team ERA into their series against Brown. Dylan Carlson leads the starters with a 2.08 ERA.
 
HOT START
At 6-1, FGCU matches the program's best seven-game start since 2010. FGCU currently boasts the eighth-best on-base percentage in the country (.447), the 11th-best batting average (.341), and the 15th-best offense at nine runs per game.

With three home runs last weekend, Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) moved to fourth in the country in home runs (5) and sixth in slugging percentage (1.115).
 
FRESH FACES, FRESH IMPACT
In his first season in Fort Myers, Gilmore paces the Green and Blue with his .462 average and five home runs. He also sits second on the team with 11 RBI. Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) meanwhile drove in three runs in Saturday's victory over ETSU, and now has four on the year to go along with his .300 average at the plate.

On the mound, Bryan Wilcox (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) earned his first win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.23 with his relief appearance against ETSU Sunday.  
 
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.

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 IN 2017, 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 .222 is good for fifth.

LAST TIME OUT
FGCU took two from former ASUN foes ETSU. After the Buccaneers handed the Eagles their first loss of the season, 10-8, to open the three-game set, the Green and Blue bounced back with consecutive victories to claim the series.

FGCU used a masterful performance from Josh Dye (DeLand, Fla/DeLand HS) Saturday to defeat ETSU 6-1 Saturday, before a patient approach at the plate guided the home team to an 11-3 win Sunday in the finale.

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 his 16th season, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 539-317-3 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.