FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2022 season is finally here as the FGCU baseball team opens up the new campaign this weekend, welcoming the Cincinnati Bearcats to Swanson Stadium.
The series gets started Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. before the teams play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. The weekend wraps up on Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m. All the games will be streamed on the FGCU Baseball YouTube channel.
The Eagles are coming off a 28-20 season in 2021, which included a 12-6 record in ASUN play. In the preseason coaches' poll, FGCU was picked second while collecting three first-place votes, only behind Liberty.
Redshirt-junior
Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) and junior
Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) return to the Eagles after being named All-ASUN a season ago. They were both also named to the Preseason All-ASUN team a couple of weeks ago.
Ellis, a First-Team All-ASUN selection in 2021, is also on the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List, which takes into consideration performance on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Ellis hit .361 last season and also led the ASUN with a .489 on-base percentage while collecting 31 RBI and scoring 45 runs. He was also named the 43rd-ranked outfielder in the country by d1baseball.com.
Kinker was a second-team All-ASUN selection last season after leading the Green and Blue with 13 home runs. He also led the Eagles with 44 RBI and 87 total bases while hitting .271.
Two other Eagles were named to the Preseason All-ASUN team as transfers
Luis Rodriguez (Guarenas, Venezuela/Miami Christian HS/Santa Fe College/Dyersburg State) and
Bobby Head (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS/Austin Peay) also earned spots. Rodriguez comes from Santa Fe College where he hit .359 with 14 home runs, 78 RBI, and 61 runs scored in two seasons while Head transfers in after playing four years at Austin Peay where he was an All-OVC First-Team selection in 2021.
On the mound, the Eagles will have to replace Friday night starter
Mason Studstill, but FGCU does return pitchers
Jason Woodward (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS),
Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury HS), and
Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS), all who should see action this weekend.
Woodward and Shuck mostly pitched in relief last year but will get a chance to start in 2022 after posting ERAs under four last season. They also both had good control numbers as they each had strikeout-to-walk ratios of over 2.00, with Woodward striking out 39 while walking 15 while Shuck had 38 punchouts and 17 walks. Woodward also earned a spot on the d1baseball.com starting pitcher rankings, checking in at #144.
Head Coach
Dave Tollett, the only coach in program history, will begin his 20th season with the Eagles this season and has a career record of 636-385-3. He will look to guide FGCU to its eighth ASUN Championship and first trip to NCAA Regionals since 2017.
The Bearcats come into the 2022 season with higher expectations than in recent years. They were picked to finish in third place by the conference's coaches in the 2022 American Athletic Conference Preseason Baseball Poll, which is the highest since joining the conference for the 2014 season. East Carolina was picked to finish first and Tulane was predicted to be the runner-up. Three Bearcats were named to the preseason All-AAC team - OF Paul Komistek, OF Cole Harting and OF Griffin Merritt. Komistek was named the 2022 Preseason AAC Player of the Year by the league's coaches.
Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 6:30 P.M.
LHP Tristan Weaver vs.
RHP Jason Woodward
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1 P.M.
RHP Garrett Harker vs.
LHP Daniel Batcher
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, GAME 2
LHP Alex Shea vs.
RHP Tyler Shuck
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 11 A.M.
RHP Aiden Bradbury vs.
Darien Smith or
Najer Victor
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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 636-385-3 overall record (.623) and a 211-115 (.647) 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 58 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
