FORT MYERS, Fla. – After seeing its 10-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday by #8 Florida State, the FGCU baseball team will look to start a new streak this weekend as they welcome Fairfield to Swanson Stadium for three games. Due to expected rain on Saturday, the Eagles and Stags will play one game on Friday at 6:30 p.m. before playing a doubleheader, Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Eagles enter the weekend with a 10-3 overall record and have swept two straight weekend series against Bethune-Cookman and Seton Hall. The Stags are currently 3-6 but are coming off a 39-5 season in 2021 and an NCAA Regional appearance.

Last Time Out
The Eagles traveled up to Tallahassee to take on the eighth-ranked Seminoles. After taking an early lead, FSU hit three home runs, including a grand slam, to win 10-4. Junior Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) hit his third home run of the season, a 405-foot blast over the high right-field fence the opposite way. 

National Leaders
The Eagles are in the top 20 in multiple categories after three weeks of play, including a couple of categories where they are tops in the nation.

Team
Base on Balls - 87, 7th
Batting Average - .321, 20th
Doubles - 33, 18th
Hit-by-pitch - 37, 1st
Hits - 145, 12th
On-Base Percentage - .461, 3rd
Runs - 135, 5th
Scoring - 10.5, 7th
Shutouts - 2, 17th
K/BB Ratio - 3.86, 16th
BB/9 - 2.72, 14th

Individual
Base on Balls - Joe Kinker, 17, 1st
BB/Game - Joe Kinker, 1.31, 6th
HBP - Brian Ellis, 10, 1st
HBP/Game - Brian Ellis, 0.77, 4th
Hits Allowed/Nine - Najer Victor, 2.45, 7th
K/9 - Najer Victor, 18.00, 19th
WHIP - Najer Victor, 0.34, 2nd

Get 'Em On, Get 'Em In
The Eagles have scored 135 runs this season already, the fifth-most in the nation. A large reason for that success is that the Green and Blue is getting on base at an extremely high mark as they have an on-base percentage of .461. They are currently the NCAA leaders in hit-by-pitch with 37 and seventh in the country with 87 walks.

Get Out the Rye Bread and Mustard Grandma Cause It's Grand Salami Time
Sophomore Trevor Kole (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) hit FGCU's second grand slam of the season against Seton Hall on Saturday. Sophomore Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) hit the first grand slam on opening day, one of two he hit that day against Cincinnati. It was the first grand slam for FGCU since March 31, 2019 when Jay Hayes and Elijah Eusebio each hit one in a 20-3 rout of Towson.

Ellis Named ASUN Player of the Week
For the first time in his career, redshirt-junior Brian Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) was named ASUN Player of the Week (Feb 28). Including the game against Minnesota, Ellis hit .556 (10-for-18) with four doubles , two home runs, 12 RBI and had an OPS of 1.747. His on-base percentage for the season now sits at .600, which includes an NCAA most seven hit-by-pitches, and has raised his career on-base percentage to .501, the second-highest among active players.

Victor Honored by ASUN
Sophomore Najer Victor (Philadelphia, Pa./East Ridge HS) was named ASUN Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 21) after tossing 5.2 innings, giving up just two hits and one earned run while striking out 10 and walking none against Cincinnati in the season-opening series.. It was just the second start of Victor's career and his 10 strikeouts sets a new career-high. It is also the most strikeouts by an Eagle since Mason Studstill struck out 11 on March 6, 2020 against Saint Joseph's.

Preseason All-ASUN Selections
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.

Scouting the Competition
Fairfield had one of the best seasons in college baseball in 2021 as they went 39-5 and earned an at-large bid to NCAA Regionals where they won two games in Austin. This season, they are off to a slow start as they sit at 3-6 which includes getting swept by fellow ASUN member Kennesaw State.

Catcher Mike Caruso was named MAAC Preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the MAAC Preseason Team by Mike Handal. Evan Berta leads the Stags with a .370 batting avergae while Matt Zaffino has a .904 OPS and two home runs. On the mound, Michael Sansone paces Fairfield with a 2-0 record and a 2.84 ERA while striking out 19 in 19.0 innings pitched.

Probable Pitching Matchups
VS. FAIRFIELD, FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 6:30 P.M.
LHP Michael Sanson (2-0, 2.84 ERA, 19 K) vs. Jason Woodward (2-1, 2.55 ERA, 22 K)
VS. FAIRFIELD, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 11 A.M.
RHP Jake Noviello (0-2, 11.17 ERA, 5 K) vs. Tyler Shuck (2-0, 2.40 ERA, 14 K)
VS. FAIRFIELD, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2 P.M.
RHP Colin McVeigh (0-2, 8.18 ERA, 10 K) vs. Najer Victor (2-0, 0.61 ERA, 18 K)

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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 646-388-3 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 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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.