FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team will look for a repeat of last weekend as they get set to host Jacksonville for three gams in their ASUN home-opening series. The Eagles are coming off a tough 16-7 loss against South Florida on Tuesday, but that came on the heels of a three-game sweep at Stetson last weekend in which they scored 46 runs in three games. Start times for this weekend against the Dolphins are set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The Eagles enter the game with a 16-5 overall record after dropping the midweek contest to the Bulls. It is still the best start to a season since 2018 when the Eagles also started 16-5.

Last Time Out
The Eagles dropped a midweek slugfest to South Florida on Tuesday in which seven home runs were hit by the two teams. Unfortunalty, five of those were hit by the Bulls which provided enough cushion despite home runs from sophomore Ian Farrow (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS) and junior Joe Kinker (North Port, Fla./Venice HS) for the Eagles.

Record-Breaking Weekend
The Eagles were an offensive juggernaut last weekend at Stetson. In game one, they defeated the Hatters, 25-11, setting a new Division I era record for runs in a game. The Eagles followed that with a 15-2 win in game two before taking the finale, 6-2.

Multiple Eagles had huge weekends as Farrow led the team with a .636 average and 11 runs scored while junior Alejandro Rodriguez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Montverde Academy/Eastern Florida State) hit .400 with 12 RBI. Farrow, Rodriguez, and freshman Harrison Povey (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla./Largo HS) all had two home runs in the series.

Farrow Named ASUN Player of the Week
After a big week at the plate against Stetson and North Dakota State, Farrow was named ASUN Baseball Player of the Week. He helped lead the Eagles to a 4-0 week as he hit .625 (10-for-16) with two home runs, two doubles, six RBI, and 12 runs scored. He also walked five times and was hit by a pitch for a .727 on-base percentage which contributed to an OPS of 1.852.

National Leaders
The Eagles are in the top 20 in multiple categories after four weeks of play.

Team
Base on Balls - 132, 7th
Batting Average - .322, 12th
Doubles - 58, 4th
Doubles-per-game – 2.76, 6th
Hit-by-pitch - 59, 1st
Hits - 240, 9th
On-Base Percentage - .456, 3rd
Runs - 225, 3rd
Scoring - 10.7, 4th
Slugging Percentage - .529, 19th

Individual
Base on Balls - Joe Kinker, 27, 1st
Base on Balls - Brian Ellis, 21, 11th
BB/Game - Joe Kinker, 1.29, 2nd
Doubles – Brian Ellis, 11, 12th
HBP - Brian Ellis, 12, 2nd
HBP - Luis Rodriguez, 11, 6th
HBP/Game - Luis Rodriguez, 0.58, 10th
HBP/Game - Brian Ellis, 0.57, 11th
Hits Allowed/Nine - Najer Victor, 3.18, 3rd
Home Runs - Ian Farrow, 8, 19th
OBP – Brian Ellis, .582, 3rd
Runs – Brian Ellis, 33, 2nd
Runs - Ian Farrow, 33, 2nd
Runs – Joe Kinker, 30, 5th
Runs/game - Brian Ellis, 1.57, 5th
Runs/game - Ian Farrow, 1.57, 5h
Runs/game - Joe Kinker, 1.43, 12th
RBI – Ian Farrow, 31, 13th
RBI - Alejandro Figueredo, 29, 18th
RBI/Game - Ian Farrow, 1.48, 17th
WHIP - Najer Victor, 0.62, 9th
WHIP - Jason Woodward, 0.72, 17th

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. 

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
Jacksonville, the defending ASUN Tournament Champions, enter the weekend with an 11-8 overall record after being swept by Kennesaw State last weekend to open ASUN play. The Dolphins had a very good early portion of the season as they pulled off a road sweep of FIU and took down #10 Florida State.

Jacksonville is led at the plate by Jesus Pacheco, who is hitting .323, and Christian Coipel, who has a team-high six home runs and 21 RBI.

The Dolphins have a very solid weekend rotation led by Mason Adams, who is 3-0 with a 3.63 ERA and 50 strikeouts in just 30.1 innings pitched. His 50 strikeouts is sixth most in the country while his 14.84 strikeouts per nine innings is 14th. They have also had great success out of the bullpen this season as they have four relievers who have ERAs under two, led by Tyler Vogel who is sporting a 0.63 ERA.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
VS. JACKSONVILLE, FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 6:30 P.M.
RHP Mason Adams (3-0, 3.56 ERA, 50 K) vs. RHP Jason Woodward (3-1, 1.63 ERA, 33 K)

VS. JACKSONVILLE, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2 P.M.
RHP Michael Darrell-Hicks (0-1, 3.63 ERA, 23 K) vs. RHP Tyler Shuck (3-1, 2.42 ERA, 25 K)

VS. JACKSONVILLE, SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 1 P.M.
RHP Christian Graham (1-0, 2.86 ERA, 20 K) vs. RHP Najer Victor (3-0, 2.38 ERA, 29 K)

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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 652-390-3 overall record (.623) and a 214-115 (.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.
 
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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!
 
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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.