FORT MYERS, Fla. – Four of the best baseball players to ever wear the Green and Blue were honored by the ASUN on Thursday afternoon, as the conference announced its Baseball All-Decade Team (2001-10). The four selections were the third-most of any other program in the league, falling just behind Stetson (seven) and Jacksonville (five).

Current major leaguers Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox) and Richard Bleier (Miami Marlins) were honored, alongside former teammates Mikel Alvarez and Jason Peacock. The group led FGCU to its first-ever ASUN Regular Season title in its inaugural year competing in league action in 2008. Though Peacock and Bleier wrapped up their time with the Green and Blue during that historic campaign, both Sale and Alvarez went on to collect back-to-back regular season titles in both 2009 and 2010. Due to NCAA reclassification rules, the Eagles were unable to compete in the postseason until the 2012 season, by which point the members from the aforementioned group had moved on.  

"What an outstanding honor for this group," head coach Dave Tollett said. "Their careers have certainly withstood the test of time, as they still represent some of the best players that I have ever had the pleasure of coaching in my 18 years here. Alvarez was by far one of the best base runners we have ever had in this program and Peacock could hit the ball harder than almost anyone. We often had them hit one right after the other in our lineup and they were a tough one-two punch for other teams to handle. Both Bleier and Sale were just dominant from the mound. Each of them had the ability to completely stifle an opposing team. It's been an honor to continue watching those two pursue their careers as Big Leaguers. Today, we as a program pride ourselves on our blue-collar work ethic and that all started with this group. We didn't have as many resources as other schools, but we worked hard and certainly had enough talent to compete with some of the best teams in the country."  

Sale and his wife Brianne (FGCU, '16) gave back to the FGCU Department of Athletics via a $1 million gift earlier this year. The funds were used for the purchase and installation of a high-definition Daktronics videoboard, which sits in right center field at Swanson Stadium. Though the board was unable to be used before the suspension of the 2020 season, it will be in full use in 2021.

FGCU's members of the 2001-10 ASUN Baseball All-Decade Team:

Mikel Alvarez | 2B | 2008-11 | West Palm Beach, Fla.
Three-time All-ASUN honoree … Collected First Team honors as a junior in 2010, as well as a spot on the All-Tournament Team … Led FGCU to a trio of ASUN Regular Season titles (2008-10) … Ranks in the FGCU career record book in numerous categories, including hits (316, first), runs scored (202, second), stolen base percentage (.833, second), RBI (154, fourth), and batting average (.360, seventh)… Checks into the league's all-time top 15 in hits (fifth), runs scored (10th) and at-bats (13th).
 
Richard Bleier | LHP | 2006-08 | Davie, Fla. | Miami Marlins
Selected in the sixth round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers (183rd overall) … Unanimously-selected as the 2008 ASUN Pitcher of the Year … Collected First Team All-ASUN honors, as well as a spot on the All-PING!BASEBALL Third Team … Selected to the Roger Clemens Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List (2008) … Posted a 2.19 ERA as a junior, which still stands as the 35th-lowest single-season average in league history … Holds the fourth-lowest ERA in FGCU history (2.70, 209.2 IP) … Ranks in program history in career complete games (six, fourth), wins (17, eighth) and strikeouts (181, 10th).
 
Jason Peacock | 1B | 2007-08 | Bartow, Fla.
Selected in the 26th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins (778th overall) … 2008 ASUN Player of the Year … Earned First Team All-ASUN honors the same season … Batted .434 as a senior, which ranks seventh all-time in the conference's single-season history … His career .380 batting average leads the FGCU record book … Checks into the Eagles' career records in numerous categories, including on-base percentage (.474, fourth), home runs (16, ninth) and slugging percentage (.566, ninth).  
 
Chris Sale | LHP | 2008-10 | Lakeland, Fla. | Boston Red Sox
Became the highest draft pick in program history when he was selected 13th overall in the 2010 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox … Seven-time MLB All-Star ... Became the third player to earn three-consecutive starts in the All-Star Game in 2018 … 2018 World Series Champion … One of only a few players in MLB history that have thrown both the first and last pitches of the World Series ... MLB career leader in strikeout-walk ratio (5.32) … Quickest player to reach 2,000 career strikeouts in MLB history (1,626 IP) ... Reached 1,500 MLB career strikeouts in the second-fewest innings pitched (1,290) ... That effort was the record before Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals) did so in 1,272 innings … Part of the inaugural ASUN Hall of Fame Class in 2015 … 2010 National Player of the Year (Collegiate Baseball) … ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American (2010) … CBF National Pitcher of the Year Finalist (2010) … Yahoo! Sports All-American (2010) … Baseball America All-American (2010) … Golden Spikes Award Runner-Up (2010) … Collected both ASUN Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-ASUN honors as a junior in 2010 … Earned a First Team All-ASUN selection in 2009 … Received an ASUN All-Freshman Team nod in 2008 … Holds the Green and Blue career records in strikeouts (293) and strikeouts/nine inn. game (11.53) … His FGCU career ERA of 2.52 (228.2 IP) ranks third all-time in program history and 12th amongst league pitchers.

To be named to the All-Decade Team, an individual must have competed for at least two years in the decade as an ASUN student-athlete. Individuals that obtained one of the following criteria were named to the team; Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, three All-Conference selections, two First Team All-Conference or multiple superlative awards. Individuals that obtained at least two of the following criteria were also named to the team; Tournament MVP/Freshman/Defensive Player/Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

For the complete ASUN All-Decade Team, click HERE.

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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 608-365-3 overall record (.624) and a 199-109 (.646) record in the ASUN. He is 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 five-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to five ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as No. 9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 54 all-conference selections, 33 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 13 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.

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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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