FORT MYERS, Fla. – With 10 wins in 12 games, the FGCU baseball team returns home to face Missouri Valley foe Evansville this weekend. The Eagles and Purple Aces begin their three-game series Friday at 6:30 and following a 2 p.m. start time Saturday, the two sides meet Sunday at 11 a.m. to wrap up the weekend.

PROMOTIONS
Sunday's finale falls on Worship of Tools Day. Any fan bringing a new or gently used tool to the game will receive free admission to the contest. All tools will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.

SERIES HISTORY
FGCU was swept by Evansville in the only prior meetings between the two programs. In 2016, the Purple Aces held serve at their home field, outscoring the Eagles 19-8 over the three games.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Mario Leon (RHP – 1-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. Austin Allinger (RHP – 1-0, 4.40 ERA)
Saturday: Josh Dye (LHP – 2-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Alex Weigand (LHP – 1-1, 4.40 ERA)
Sunday: Evan Lumbert (RHP – 2-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. David Ellis (RHP – 0-1, 7.71 ERA)

SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES
Winners of four-straight, Evansville comes to Fort Myers having outscored opponents 21-5 during that stretch including a pair of shutouts over Western Illinois. With those two shutouts, Evansville is now one of just 14 programs across the country with two or more on the season.

Evansville enters the series hitting .254 as a team, led by Troy Beilsmith and Andrew Tanous who are both hitting well over .300. Beilsmith leads the Purple Aces with six doubles and shares the team-lead with two home runs all while hitting .382. Tanous meanwhile enters batting .349 with five doubles and two home runs.

On the bump, Evansville enters with a 4.66 ERA as a team. Austin Allinger is 1-0 with 15 strikeouts and nine walks through 14.1 innings. Meanwhile, Saturday's expected starter, Alex Weigand, has struck out 14 opposite five walks through the same amount of innings.

HOT START
The Eagles' 10-2 start, one of only 23 programs in the country to start the season with a .833 winning percentage or better. Through the first 12 games of the season, the Eagles are hitting .339 as a team, the eighth-best team average in the country. Not only are the Eagles hitting, but the hits have been timely as well. FGCU has scored 9.2 runs per game, good for 13th in Division I.

Last season, the Eagles started the season 14-2 which currently stands as the best start in program history.

FRESH FACES, FRESH IMPACT
Four newcomers have stolen the show so far in 2018. Kohl Gilmore (Fort Pierce, Fla./John Carroll HS/Indian River State) leads the Eagles in almost all offensive categories including his .457 average, seven home runs and 20 RBI. Perhaps, even more, telling about his approach at the plate is Gilmore's 13 walks against seven strikeouts.

Producing both offensively and defensively, Christian Proffitt (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) has driven in eight runs from the 9-spot in the order while also hitting .324 with two doubles. The freshman shortstop has 29 assists on the year as well as eight putouts against three errors.

On the mound, the Eagles have looked to newcomers Bryan Wilcox (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) and Evan Lumbert (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS/South Florida State) early in the season. Lumbert is 2-0 this season with a 2.35 ERA and is expected to start Sunday. Through 15 innings, Lumbert has 19 strikeouts with only two walks allowed. Wilcox meanwhile has 12 strikeouts in 8.0 innings out of the bullpen.

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 went 4-1 on its first road trip of the season, capped by a two-game sweep over Florida A&M Tuesday and Wednesday. After falling in the opener against Bethune-Cookman 3-1, the Eagles scored 18 runs over the next two days to come away with 10-4 and 8-1 victories.

In Tallahassee, FGCU won a 13-12 11 inning thriller and completed the sweep with a 15-7 win yesterday.

Eric Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./American Senior HS/ASA College) burst onto the scene yesterday, hitting two home runs and driving in four runs. Gilmore continued to swing a hot bat, going 9-for-20 from the plate with a pair of home runs and nine RBI. Richie Garcia (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region HS/Polk State) also drove in nine over the five game road trip.

On the mound, Lumbert earned his second win of the season, working 6.0 innings of one-run baseball while sitting down 10 Wildcats Sunday. Trey Vickery (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) earned the win yesterday and tossed 5.1 total innings, conceding just one run in that time.

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 543-318-3 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.