FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team will begin the 2019 season with four games in four days at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles will first welcome Bethune-Cookman Feb. 15-17 before entertaining Big Ten foe Ohio State at 5 p.m. Feb. 18. The series with Bethune-Cookman is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

 

GAME 1: Bethune-Cookman at FGCU
Time / Date	6:30 p.m. / Friday, Feb. 15
Location	Fort Myers, Fla.
Stadium	Swanson Stadium
Live Stats/Video	Statbroadcast | Facebook Live
FGCU Starter	RHP Nikolas Bitner
BC Starter	RHP Anthony Maldonado

A LOOK AT FGCU
•     FGCU tallied a 32-21 record last season with an 8-13 mark in ASUN Conference action.
•     The Eagles return four of their offensive leaders in juniors Alex Brait, Kohl Gilmore and Richie Garcia, and sophomore Christian Proffitt. Brait, Gilmore and Garcia were all named to the preseason All-ASUN team, while Proffitt was tabbed as the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
 

GAME 2: Bethune-Cookman at FGCU
Time / Date	2 p.m. / Saturday, Feb. 16
Location	Fort Myers, Fla.
Stadium	Swanson Stadium
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
FGCU Starter	RHP Brenden Heiss
BC Starter	RHP Carlos Lequerica

•     Brait led FGCU in batting average last season at .335, while collecting 61 hits and 38 runs. Garcia led the team in RBIs (50), hits (68), doubles (17), and triples (3). Additionally, Gilmore finished with a .282 average and led the ASUN in home runs with 11. Continuing a history of dominant freshman was Proffitt, who was selected as the 2018 ASUN Freshman of the Year with a .284 batting average, 20 runs, 25 RBIs, and 44 hits.

GAME 3: Bethune-Cookman at FGCU
Time / Date	1 p.m. / Sunday, Feb. 17
Location	Fort Myers, Fla.
Stadium	Swanson Stadium
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
FGCU Starter	TBD
BC Starter	RHP Tyler Krull

•     On the mound, FGCU returns Evan Lumbert. The senior ended the 2018 season with six wins and a 3.11 ERA to go along with 66 strikeouts in 63.2 IP. The top arm out of the bullpen is junior Trey Vickery, who recorded a 2-0 record, 2.21 ERA and 18 K's in 20.1 innings.

 

GAME 4: Ohio State at FGCU
Time / Date	5 p.m. / Monday, Feb. 18
Location	Fort Myers, Fla.
Stadium	Swanson Stadium
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
FGCU Starter	TBD
OSU Starter	TBD

SERIES HISTORY VS. BETHUNE-COOKMAN
•     The two teams have met 27 times since 2008, with FGCU leading the all-time series 16-11.
•     FGCU won two of the three games played between the clubs last season in Daytona Beach. The Eagles scored a combined 19 runs in those contests, while only conceding eight.
•     Despite falling in the first game, the Eagles came back to win the second two in large part to Richie Garcia who had a combined four runs, five hits, and four RBIs in eight at bats.
•     The Eagles are 4-1 in the last five meetings and 8-2 in the last 10.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
•     BC tallied a 24-34 record last season and went 14-10 in the MEAC. The Wildcats advanced to the finals of the MEAC Championship.
•     Bethune-Cookman returns 20 players from last year. The team lost its top two hitters but welcomes back Nate Sterijevski and his .325 batting average from last year. The senior tallied 37 runs, 63 hits and 28 RBIs last season.
•     On the mound, the Wildcats bring back prolific hurler Anthony Maldonado, who is projected as a top-5 round pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. The junior boasted a 2.81 ERA and a 7-2 record in 64 innings pitched last season. He also struck out 74 batters.
•     BC is coached by first-year skipper Jonathan Hernandez.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OHIO STATE
•     The two teams have only met three times, with all three meetings coming in a home series in 2017.
•     FGCU won the series 2-1.
•     There are 15 current players (eight Buckeyes and seven Eagles) that were on the rosters of the clubs during that season. The Eagles won a close first game 10-9 and then captured the second game 13-1. The Buckeyes salvaged a game by winning the finale 5-4. 

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
•     Ohio State made an NCAA Regional last season after registering a 36-24 record overall and a 14-10 mark in Big Ten play.
•     This season the Buckeyes feature 16 returning players. Among those is senior Kobie Foppe, who was second last year in batting average. He also accumulated 80 hits, 45 runs and 55 RBIs.
•     OSU lost their top three pitchers who accounted for 197.1 IP and 172 strikeouts with a 3.01 ERA. Junior Jake Vance went 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 36.0 innings last season.
•     The Buckeyes are led by ninth-year head coach Greg Beals (Kent State, '95). He is 261-203-1 in his tenure at OSU and 504-405-1 overall in his 16 years coaching.

2019 SCHEDULE
•     The Eagles will begin their 55-game campaign with a bang, as they will open the year playing each of their first 11 games in the friendly confines of Swanson Stadium.
•     On top of the Ohio State clash, FGCU will play nine times against programs from Power 5 universities (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC).
•     FGCU is billed to play 36 home games and 19 contests on the road. Additional notable non-conference home games include dates with Rutgers (March 15-17), FAU (March 19), FIU (March 26), and Miami (April 10).
•     The first ASUN Conference action will be a three-game home series against Lipscomb April 5-7. The Eagles will then hit the road for a weekend set at Kennesaw State April 12-14.
•      FGCU will compete 16 times against programs who have played in the NCAA Championship tournament at least once over the last two years. The mark includes a Florida squad that won the national championship two years ago and advanced to the 2018 College World Series. FGCU will also face a Stetson program (May 3-5) that hosted an NCAA Regional last year and advanced to a Super Regional.
•     The 2019 ASUN Conference Championship will be contested May 22-25 in Deland, Florida, and will be hosted by Stetson.

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.
 
COACH TOLLETT
Through 16 full seasons, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 565-337-3 record (.629) as the only head coach in the program's history and led the program to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017. 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 54 All-Conference selections, 31 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 seven-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.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 73 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 34 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport.  The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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