FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (3-1) is set to host Kansas (2-1) this weekend, Feb. 26-28, at Swanson Stadium for a four-game series. Friday's game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start with Saturday's contest slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The teams will then reconvene on Sunday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
The games against the Jayhawks 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, there will be a stream on YouTube Live.
Midweek Battle
In their last time out, the Eagles fell 3-1 at the hands of an FAU squad that took two-of-three in its season-opening series against No. 24 UCF. The Owls, who averaged 12 runs a game heading into the contest, were held to just three by the Eagles' pitching staff. That effort was spearheaded by junior
Gus Carter (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State), who tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief while allowing one hit and fanning six.
Senior
Marc Coffers (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) accounted for the team's only run of the game, as he tallied the 10th home run of his career in the bottom of the first. Though the Eagles had a few good chances to score, including a one-out, bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, they dropped their first game of the season.
The Long Ball
Coffers is one of three Eagles that have homered through the start of the season, joined by classmate
Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) and sophomore
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS).
Garcia racked up his 21
st career home run with a solo shot during the team's doubleheader against USF (Feb. 20). He ranks fifth all-time and needs just four more to pass former Eagle Jason Louwsma (2005-06) for fourth. Kinker homered in that same outing, depositing a two-run bomb over the left field wall.
Hit 'Em Where They Ain't
Redshirt-sophomore
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) has cranked out a team-best seven hits through the first four games of the season. The outfielder, who leads the Eagles with a .438 batting average, has recorded a pair of hits in all but one outing so far. He and Coffers have had base knocks in each of FGCU's four games.
For the Win
Three different Green & Blue arms will bring 1-0 records into this weekend's matchups. Senior
Hunter McGarry (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School/State College of Florida-Manatee), as well as juniors
Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) and
Joey Mugavero (Estero, Fla./Estero HS/Florida Southwestern State), were all awarded wins during the series against USF. The trio averages a 3.16 ERA and has fanned a combined 10 batters.
Scouting the Jayhawks
Kansas enters this weekend's games after clinching its season-opening series against South Dakota State. The Jayhawks took earned a 7-3 victory in game one before dropping game two, 5-8. Kansas then bounced back and claimed the rubber match with a dominant, 13-1 result.
The team's defeat of the Jackrabbits marked the third time in the past five seasons that Kansas has begun its slate with a series win. Last year, Kansas kicked off its season taking two-of-three games against Belmont. The Jayhawks went on to post a 7-10 mark before the campaign was suspended due to COVID-19.
The team's offense is led by redshirt-junior Nolan Metcalf, who boosted Kansas to its game three win over South Dakota State with a perfect day at the plate (4-for-4, 3-run HR). The catcher is batting .545 so far and has collected six RBI.
Pitching-wise, the Jayhawks' staff has posted a 3.67 ERA through the start of the season. Redshirt-senior Ryan Cyr, a returning Big 12 Honorable Mention selection from 2019, leads the staff with 11 punchouts and has tossed five complete games throughout his collegiate career.
What to Watch
The Leadoff Guy: With his performance against FAU, Ellis extended his streak of reaching base safely to 20 games. He reached in all 16 games of the 2020 slate and has been perfect so far.
The New Opponent: During its shortened 2020 slate, the FGCU baseball team went 3-5 against first-time opponents. The team picked up wins over Georgetown and No. 22 Pepperdine, went 1-2 against Kent State and was swept by Tulane.
The Starting Lineup: So far, 12 different Green & Blue position players have made starting appearances. That group includes a pair of true freshmen in
Jacob Lojewski (West Palm Beach, Fla./American Heritage Delray) and
Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS).
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at
www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 610-366-3 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!
#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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 83 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.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM—
