FGCU Baseball Notes & Information
Games	FGCU (10-5) vs Florida A&M (3-14)
Dates & Times	Friday, March 19 (5 p.m.) // Saturday, March 20 (1 p.m. - DH) // Sunday, March 21 (Noon)
Location	Moore-Kittles Field // Tallahassee, Fla.
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Twitter	@FGCUEagles // @FGCU_Baseball
Instagram	@FGCU_Baseball
Facebook	FGCU Baseball

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (10-5) is preparing to make one of its longest road trips of the 2021 season, as the Eagles are slated to take on Florida A&M (3-14) this weekend up in Tallahassee. The series, which will feature four games from Friday, March 19 through Sunday, March 21, will be played at the Rattlers' Moore-Kittles Field. Friday's first pitch is slated for 5 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. the following the day. The teams will cap off the series at Noon on Sunday.

The games at Moore-Kittles Field will be open to approximately 250 fans. There is no fee for entry.

The Scoop
The Eagles will head into the weekend with a 10-1 all-time advantage over the Rattlers, which includes a 7-1 mark in Tallahassee. FGCU's only loss to Florida A&M was a 14-9 defeat during a doubleheader in 2016. Since the first meeting between the teams in 2013, FGCU has outscored Florida A&M 111-63.

Last Time Out
The Eagles are coming off a 15-2 midweek loss at home to No. 5 Miami. Despite getting a solid start from junior Gus Carter (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State), the Eagles were unable to contain the Hurricanes' offense and were outhit 15-9.

FGCU's only runs of the night came from sophomore Stephen Wilmer's (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State) solo home run and junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS), who came in on freshman Jacob Lojewski's (West Palm Beach, Fla./American Heritage Delray) double.

Carter finished his night with a career-best seven strikeouts but was tagged with the loss, moving him to 0-1 on the season. 

That's a First
The game against Miami was highlighted by freshmen Mac Moise (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) and Zac Calhoon (Osprey, Fla./Venice HS), each of whom tallied the first hits of their respective FGCU careers. All four of the true freshmen that have batted for the Green & Blue this year have recorded a hit.

The other "first" of the night came from Wilmer, as his solo shot was the first of his career in Fort Myers.

Hit It
As a team, the Eagles rank 48th in the nation in hits this season (143). The effort, which is only bested within the league by Stetson (148), is led by sophomore Joe Kinker's (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) team-high 20. He's followed by three different Eagles that are tied for second with 19 knocks apiece.

Senior Richie Garcia (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) paces the team in batting average at .365. Of the members of the team that have played in 10-or-more games, six are slashing above .300. The team's overall batting average of .282 leads the ASUN.

The Friday Guy
Senior Mason Studstill (Titusville, Fla./Rockledge HS/Miami/Eastern Florida State) has had a strong start to the 2021 season, as his ERA of 0.99 is the 54th-lowest in the nation. The right-hander also ranks in the country's top-100 in strikeouts (89^th, 27) and combined for a shutout against No. 21 FAU. For his efforts against the Owls, he collected his first-ever ASUN Pitcher of the Week honor. The unanimously-selected ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year is 24 punchouts away from cracking into FGCU's career record book.

Scouting the Rattlers
Florida A&M is coming off back-to-back midweek losses to Mercer. The team first fell 13-4 on Tuesday night before dropping a 10-6 game on Wednesday. The Rattlers' only wins of the 2021 season were picked up during a sweep of Grambling State (March 12-14). Over the course of three games, Florida A&M earned a 20-13 advantage in scoring.

The Rattlers are the reigning MEAC Champions, having taken home the league title in 2019. That year, the team defeated Norfolk State in the championship game to earn its second crown since 2015.

Florida A&M's pitching staff has posted a 6.80 ERA through its first 14 games and has struck out 119 batters. Fourteen different arms have made appearances for the team this season, led by sophomores Zach Morea and Ben Krizen, each of whom have pitched seven times. Krizen has posted a team-best 2.61 ERA through 10.1 IP and has walked just three batters.

From the batter's box, the team is led by freshman Joseph Pierini's .306 average. As a whole, the Rattlers are slashing .207 and have cranked out 29 extra-base hits. Junior LJ Bryant's team-best five doubles put him within the nation's top-100 (95th) and he is one of three Rattlers that has tallied a triple so far.

ASUN is on the Horizon
This weekend's series will be the last of the Eagles' 2021 non-conference slate. Though the team is set to play a few more midweek games outside of its conference schedule, all of its weekend matchups will be against ASUN opponents from here on out.
 
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 618-370-3 overall record (.625) 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 85 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 40 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—