FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The FGCU baseball team (22-15, 8-4) will host North Florida (15-16, 8-4) in a weekend series inside Swanson Stadium beginning with a Friday night matchup at 6:30 p.m. Following a 2 p.m. matchup on Saturday, the series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. with senior day festivities beginning around 12:25 p.m. There will be a video played following by an on-field ceremony.
Â
Critical Series
This weekend will play a large role in postseason seeding as FGCU and UNF are both tied atop the ASUN South Division standings with Stetson. Just six games remain for each team, and the top two at the end of the regular season will host a divisional round series in the conference tournament.
Â
Last Time Out
The Eagles, who will enter this weekend at No. 66 in the latest RPI standings, are coming off a 6-0 midweek road loss to Miami on Tuesday.
Joe Kinker went 2-for-3 with a walk to lead the team offensively. It was the 12th multi-hit game of the season for the sophomore, who has now reached base in a team-best 12 straight.
Â
Under The Lights
Richie Garcia is hitting a team-best .400 in night games this year with five doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI over 14 such games. In fact, his average is .141 higher under the lights this year.
Â
Going Streaking
With
Stephen Wilmer having his 11-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday,
Alejandro Figueredo now has the longest current streak among the Eagles with five.
Brian Ellis (12), Wilmer (11) and
Richie Garcia (10) have each recorded double-digit hitting streaks this year.
Â
Leadoff King
Brian Ellis is having a monster season from the leadoff spot for the Eagles this year as the redshirt junior is hitting a team and career-best .366 with 37 runs, six doubles and 26 RBI. He has also drawn a team-best 25 walks and been hit by the pitch nine times for a .483 on base percentage. In fact, he reached base a team-best 19 straight games earlier this year. With the stick, he has a team-best 18 multi-hit games with a trio of three-hit efforts and a four-hit outburst on his record, and he's hitting a team-best .485 with runners in scoring position. He's also tied for second on the team with seven multi-RBI efforts and his career .484 on base percentage is currently the best in the program's Division I era and tied for second-best in FGCU's entire history.
Â
Rare Breed
Richie Garcia (221) and
Marc Coffers (201) are just the third pair of FGCU teammates to have played in at least 200 games on the same roster, joining the 2011 duo of Mikel Alvarez (214) and Stephen Wickens (205) and the 2017 duo of
Nick Rivera (250) and Gage Morey (234). In fact, only seven Eagles have played in 200 career games.
Â
Approaching History
Several Eagles are moving up the charts among the program's all-time leaders, led by
Richie Garcia, who sits among the top 10 in starts, runs, hits, doubles, home runs and walks.
Â
Marc Coffers needs one run to move into sole possession of eighth-place and four more to move into seventh.
Mason Studstill sports the lowest opponent batting average (.188), the third lowest earned run average (2.61) and the ninth-most strikeouts per nine inning (10.01). On top of that, he has the seventh-most strikeouts all-time and sits just 34 shy of moving into sole possession of fifth place.
Hunter McGarry sits three saves shy of sole possession of the program's all-time record.
Â
Cam The Man
Cameron Krzeminski is hitting a team-best .538 when leading off an inning this year.
Â
Among The Best
Several Eagles rank among the best in the country.
Â
Â
ASUN Standings
South Division
School |
ASUN |
Overall |
FGCU |
8-4 |
22-15 |
Stetson |
8-4 |
22-15 |
North Florida |
8-4 |
15-16 |
Jacksonville |
0-12 |
7-27 |
North Division
School |
ASUN |
Overall |
Liberty |
11-1 |
27-11 |
Kennesaw State |
12-3 |
24-12 |
Bellarmine |
7-11 |
12-24 |
Lipscomb |
5-10 |
14-22 |
North Alabama |
4-14 |
5-33 |
Friday Schedule
Bellarmine at Liberty, 6 p.m.
Kennesaw State at No. 30 Georgia Tech, 6 p.m.
North Florida at FGCU, 6:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson, 6:30 p.m.
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
Â
Saturday Schedule
North Florida at FGCU, 2 p.m.
Bellarmine at Liberty, 4 p.m.
Kennesaw State at No. 30 Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson, 6:30 p.m.
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
Â
Sunday Schedule
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 1 p.m.
Bellarmine at Liberty, 1 p.m.
North Florida at FGCU, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson, 1 p.m.
No. 30 Georgia Tech at Kennesaw State, 1 p.m.
Â
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online atÂ
www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visitingÂ
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
COACHÂ TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 630-379-3 overall record (.625) and a 206-114 (.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!
Â
#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.
Â
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.
Â
--
FGCUATHLETICS.COM—