FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team (21-12, 7-2 ASUN) will continue its conference slate at Swanson Stadium this weekend with a series against Stetson (20-13, 6-3 ASUN), April 23-25. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday with a 2 p.m. game set to follow on Saturday. The teams will cap off the weekend with a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday.
All three games will be open to approximately 500 fans, all of whom must remain masked and socially distanced. For those who cannot attend, the action will be streamed on YouTube Live.
The all-time history between the two teams is knotted up at 21-21 entering this weekend. The Eagles have a split, 8-8 mark against the Hatters at Swanson Stadium and a 12-11 edge on the road. A series win for FGCU would be the team's first over Stetson since taking two-of-three in 2016.
Last Time Out
The Eagles are coming off a 2-1 weekend against the Wright State Raiders, who entered the series ranked 28th in the RPI. All three games were played in Jacksonville, Ala., marking FGCU's first neutral site matchups of the season.
The Green & Blue first picked up a 13-12 victory before dropping a 3-10 result in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. The team bounced back with a 6-4 win during Saturday's series finale to claim the overall weekend.
Sophomore
Stephen Wilmer (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/ECU/Pasco-Hernando State) had strong performances, turning in a .400 series batting average to go along with a pair of home runs and one double. He scored a team-best five runs and collected four RBI. He was one of four Eagles that slashed .400 or better during the series with the Raiders, an effort that was led by freshman
Johnny Long's (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) .571.
RPI
The Green & Blue check in at No. 62 in the RPI, the second-highest of any ball club in the ASUN (Liberty, No. 42). The Eagles and the Flames are the only two programs from the conference that register in the top 100. The Hatters enter the weekend slotted 150th.
The Offense
As a team, FGCU checks into the nation's top 60 in runs (236, 38th), scoring (7.2, 43rd), on-base percentage (.389, 44th), hits (320, 52nd) and batting average (.285, 55th). The Eagles lead the ASUN in all of the aforementioned categories, with the exception of batting average (Kennesaw State, .290).
Out of the Park
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) is putting together a strong sophomore season, as his 11 home runs are the most by any Eagle since Kohl Gilmore's matching effort in 2018 and rank 15th in the country. The 11 bombs are the 10th-most in the program's single-season history. Current Director of Player Development
Nick Rivera is tied with former Eagle Zach Maxfield for the team's single-season record of 20. Rivera set his mark in 2017, while Maxfield achieved the feat in 2009.
K
With his outing against Wright State, senior
Mason Studstill (Titusville, Fla./Rockledge HS/Miami/Eastern Florida State) has surpassed current major leaguer Richard Bleier for 10th in FGCU history with 184 career punchouts. The 2021 ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year needs 42 more to crack into the program's top 10.
Studstill has fanned a team-high 53 batters in 2021, followed by junior
Gus Carter's (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie HS/Florida Southwestern State) 41. Junior
Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS) rounds out the top three with his 28.
Leading Off…
Redshirt-sophomore
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) has established himself as one of the nation's best leadoff hitters. The left fielder checks into the nation's top-50 in hits (49, 28th), runs (36, 33rd) and on-base percentage (.491, 48th). He leads the team with 17 multi-hit games and has reached base safely in all but one contest this year.
Scouting the Hatters
Stetson will roll into Fort Myers after falling to FIU 6-7 during a midweek game in Miami. The Hatters had twice as many hits as the Panthers and led by as much as 6-3 in the seventh inning, but were unable to hold on for the win.
Despite the loss, redshirt-junior Kyle Ball was able to extend his team-best hitting and on-base streaks to 13 games and 25 games, respectively. The third baseman is batting .299 on the season, behind only graduate student Hernen Sardinas' .350 average. Ball leads the team with eight stolen bases, while Sardinas paces the Hatters in RBI (32), hits (42), doubles (13) and home runs (five).
Stetson's pitching staff ranks 15th in the nation and is tied with Liberty for the conference lead with four shutouts. Two different rookies have tossed complete game shutouts for the team this season in Anthony DeFabbia and Jovani Gill. The Hatters' arms are also highlighted by redshirt-freshman Nick Durgin, who finished his last appearance against the Eagles with 14 strikeouts. The right-hander leads the team with 54 punchouts and owns a 2.66 ERA through 47.1 IP. He enters the weekend with a 5-1 record.
What to Watch
Home Field Advantage: This weekend's series will be the second-to-last that the team will play at home during the regular season. FGCU is slated for one final conference clash at Swanson Stadium with UNF April 30-May 2.
Heat Check: Wilmer has been heating up at the right time for the Eagles, batting .406 in his last 10 games. The two-way player has cranked out five doubles and two home runs during that span and racked up a team-high 24 RBI.
The Standings: As FGCU prepares to begin the second half of its conference slate, fans should keep their eyes on the ASUN standings. This year's playoffs will be held in a divisional format with the top seed playing host to the fourth seed and the second seed hosting the third seed. The final four teams will advance to a four-team, double-elimination tournament in Jacksonville. For more details, click
here.
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.
ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| FGCU |
7-2 |
21-12 |
| Stetson |
6-3 |
20-13 |
| UNF |
5-4 |
11-16 |
| Jacksonville |
0-9 |
7-22 |
North Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| Liberty |
11-1 |
25-9 |
| Kennesaw State |
10-2 |
22-10 |
| Lipscomb |
4-8 |
12-20 |
| Bellarmine |
5-11 |
10-23 |
| North Alabama |
3-12 |
4-30 |
Recent Results
Tuesday, April 20
Murray State 10, Bellarmine 5
Duke 7, Liberty 0
No. 15 Florida 8, Jacksonville 7
Alabama 8, North Alabama 6
Wednesday, April 21
Belmont 11, Lipscomb 2
Georgia Southern 11, Kennesaw State 5
FIU 7, Stetson 6
Weekend Series
April 23-25
Lipscomb at Kennesaw State
Jacksonville at UNF
Coastal Carolina at Liberty
Bellarmine at North Alabama
Stetson at FGCU
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 629-376-3 overall record (.625) and a 205-112 (.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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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—
