FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the first time since March 10, 2020, the FGCU baseball team (0-0) is preparing to play games as the team is set to open up the 2021 season with a home-and-home series versus USF (0-0) this Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20 & 21. The Eagles will first make the trip up to Tampa for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before returning to Fort Myers for a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday. This is a change from the original format of the series, as Friday's inclement weather forced the teams to adjust the schedule. Â
The games at the Bulls' stadium will be streamed on ESPN+ and attendance is limited to a pre-determined pass list. All contests at Swanson Stadium will be open to approximately 500 fans, all of whom must remain masked at all times and adhere to social distancing guidelines. For those who cannot make it to the The Nest, Sunday's game will be streamed on YouTube Live.
All Eyes on the Eagles
The Eagles, who return to action as the reigning ASUN Regular Season Champions after capturing the title in 2019, were picked to finish third in the 2021 ASUN Coaches' Poll. With a total of three first-place votes and 63 points, FGCU checked in behind first-place Liberty (four first-place votes, 73 points) and second-place Stetson (two first-place votes, 69 points).
The Green & Blue received two spots on the Preseason All-ASUN Team, as both seniors
Mason Studstill (Titusville, Fla./Rockledge HS/Miami/Eastern Florida State) and
Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) nabbed spots on the 14-member squad. Studstill, a returning First Team All-ASUN pick from the 2019 campaign, was the only player in the league to be unanimously selected to the team and was dubbed the ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The right-hander leads all Eagles in program history with a .167 opponent batting average and is second in career ERA (2.30).
Garcia, who earned a Preseason All-ASUN nod for the second-consecutive year, also has his name etched into the Green & Blue record book. He sits fifth in program history with 20 career home runs, ninth in RBI (129) and 10th in doubles (42). Additionally, his 355 career assists and 182 games started both check in at seventh.Â
For the Record
In addition to Studstill and Garcia, numerous Eagles enter the season with their names already written into the FGCU Baseball record books.
Senior
Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) will look to advance his position in the Green & Blue's all-time stolen base list. His 37 bags rank fourth in program history and his career stolen-base percentage of .822 checks in at third. He needs just three more to crack into the Eagles' top three.
On the bump, senior
Hunter McGarry (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/State College of Florida-Manatee) will begin the 2021 season with his name already locked into four different career record lists. With 12 saves, he ranks fourth all-time and his 30 finished games check in at fifth. His career opponent batting average of .229 sits just outside the top-five at sixth and his career ERA of 2.88 is the eighth-best of any Green & Blue arm.
New Eagles in The Nest
This weekend's games will allow Eagle fans their first chance at seeing the 16 newest additions to head coach
Dave Tollett's program in action. The group has 10 true freshmen, five JUCO transfers and one four-year transfer in redshirt-freshman
Dominic Coombe (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia HS/St. John's).
Position-wise, the new additions feature six right-handed pitchers, four infielders, four outfielders, one left-handed pitcher and one catcher. A few of the players may appear at multiple different positions, including sophomore
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State), who is listed as both a left-handed pitcher and an outfielder.
Scouting the Bulls
USF posted a 6-11 record during the shortened 2020 season, which included a 4-4 mark over its last eight games. The Bulls dropped four different contests to ranked opponents, falling at No. 12 Florida (3-7) and at No. 6 Miami (5-7) before being swept in a weekend series by No. 1 Florida.
This year, USF will look to regain its standing near the top of the American Athletic Conference after failing to make the postseason tournament in 2019. That year, the Bulls went 8-16 against league opponents. Despite never winning the American, USF has made 13 different appearances in the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 2018.
Fourth-year head coach Billy Mohl has returned 30 members of last year's squad in 2021, a number that includes five starting position players. Redshirt-junior Jake Sullivan is the team's top returning bat after slashing .217/.267/.269 in 2020. The catcher chipped in three doubles and racked up six RBI.
On the bump, USF will be led by redshirt-senior Collin Sullivan. The right-hander, who fanned 32 batters and posted a 1-2 mark in 2020, landed on the 2018 American All-Tournament Team after tossing a complete game against Wichita State, during which he allowed just one earned run and struck out seven.
Saturday's game will be the 19th in the history between the two teams, which currently favors the Eagles 11-7. FGCU owns a dominant, 7-2 mark in contests played at the USF Baseball Stadium and will look to build upon the overall advantage this weekend.
What to Watch
Garcia's Bat – Garcia is just one knock away from becoming the 15th player in program history to reach 200 career hits. He entered the 2020 season with 183 hits and was averaging 61 a season prior to the shortened slate. Â
The Leadoff Guy – Redshirt-sophomore
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) will look to continue his streak of reaching base safely, which he left off at 16 games in 2020. The only player to get on base in all 16 of the team's contests that year, he additionally had a seven-game hitting streak and turned in five multi-hit games.
Swanson Stadium – This weekend, fans will have a chance to see FGCU Baseball's brand-new Daktronics video board out in right field. The newest addition to Swanson Stadium was part of a $1 million gift generously donated by former FGCU baseball standout and current major league ace Chris Sale and his wife Brianne (FGCU, '16).
Saturday's Result – The Eagles are 10-8 all-time in season-openers. The team's largest margin of victory in a season-opener in the DI era (since 2008) is 10 runs, which it has achieved twice. First, during an 11-1 triumph over Southeastern in 2008 and second in a 10-0 shutout over Temple in 2010.
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online atÂ
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www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
COACHÂ 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.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
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#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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.
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ABOUT FGCU
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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