FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU baseball team returns to ASUN action this weekend as Kennesaw State rolls in to Swanson Stadium. The Eagles are currently 5-1 in the ASUN while the Owls sit in first-place with a perfect 6-0 conference record.

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. while Saturday is set for 2 p.m. and Sunday for 12 p.m. However, due to expected rain in the forecast, stay tuned for updates to the schedule.

Overall, the Green and Blue are 18-7 after dropping a midweek contest to #12 Miami on Wednesday. Kennesaw State is 17-7 and winners of five straight which includes a sweep of North Florida and wins over USC Upstate and nationally-ranked Georgia Tech.

Last Time Out
Against Miami on Wednesday, the Eagles could not overcome a 10-run third inning by the Hurricanes, falling to their in-state rival, 11-7. Harrison Povey and Alejandro Figueredo each went 4-4 in the game while Brian Ellis added his fourth home run of the season.

D1 Baseball Recognizes Eagles
D1baseball.com released its first set of mid-season positional power rankings and multiple Eagles found themselves ranked.

Alejandro Rodriguez is #29 among catchers which is impressive considering he was not expected to catch before the season started. After a couple of injuries to catchers, Rodriguez went behind the plate and has been hard-pressed to give it up as he is hitting .376 with three home runs, 31 RBI, and 22 runs scored. He's also really hard to strike out as he is among the nation's leaders at 11.6 at-bats per strikeout.

Joe Kinker comes in as the 14th-ranked first baseman after he has been tearing the cover off the ball to begin the season, slashing .311/.479/.633 with 7 HR and 25 RBI. He is also second in the nation in walks with 28 and seventh in runs with 34.

Alejandro Figueredo came in at #27 among third basemen and may have only improved his stock after going 4-for-4 against Miami which raised his batting average to an astounding .436. He has also socked five home runs, five doubles, a triple, and driven in 42 runs.

In the outfield, all three - Ian Farrow, Brian Ellis, and Harrison Povey - were ranked in the top 100, one of just five teams along with Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, and Mercer, to place all three in the rankings. Farrow clocks in at #35, Ellis at #39, and Povey at #91 as they are all hitting above .375 and have combined for 20 home runs, 94 RBI, and 102 runs scored.

Jason Woodward also claimed a spot on the power rankings as he comes in at #83 among starting pitchers, improving 61 spots in from the preseason rankings. He is currently 3-1 on the season with a 1.93 ERA and 37 strikeouts while walking just 11 and holding opposing hitters to a .177 batting average.

National Leaders
The Eagles are in the top 20 in multiple categories after six weeks of play, including leading the nation in a couple.

Team
Base on Balls - 146, 12th
Batting Average - .323, 9th
Doubles - 68, 3rd
Doubles-per-game – 2.72, 5th
Hit-by-pitch - 63, 2nd
Hits - 289, 9th
On-Base Percentage - .446, 3rd
Runs - 260, 4th
Scoring - 10.4, 4th
Slugging Percentage - .534, 14th

Individual
Base on Balls - Joe Kinker, 28, 3rd
Base on Balls - Brian Ellis, 24, 16th
BB/Game - Joe Kinker, 1.12, 8th
Batting Average - Alejandro Figueredo, .436, 15th
Doubles – Brian Ellis, 12, 16th
Games Started - Jason Woodward, 6, 17th
HBP - Brian Ellis, 14, 2nd
HBP - Luis Rodriguez, 12, 6th
HBP/Game - Brian Ellis, 0.56, 6th
HBP/Game - Luis Rodriguez, 0.52, 13th
Hits - Alejandro Figueredo, 44, 8th
Hits - Ian Farrow, 41, 19th
Hits/Game - Alejandro Figueredo, 1.76, 5th
Hits Allowed/Nine - Najer Victor, 4.45, 11th
OBP – Brian Ellis, .565, 5th
Runs – Brian Ellis, 41, 1st
Runs - Ian Farrow, 37, 3rd
Runs – Joe Kinker, 34, 12th
Runs/game - Brian Ellis, 1.64, 1st
Runs/game - Ian Farrow, 1.48, 6th
Runs/game - Joe Kinker, 1.36, 17th
RBI – Ian Farrow, 36, 8th
RBI/Game - Ian Farrow, 1.48, 16th
WHIP - Najer Victor, 0.78, 18th

Farrow Named ASUN Player of the Week
After a big week at the plate, Ian Farrow was named ASUN Baseball Player of the Week (March 21). He helped lead the Eagles to a 4-0 week against North Dakota State and Stetson 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.

Ellis Picks Up ASUN Weekly Honors
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
Kennesaw State enters the weekend with a 17-7 record and 6-0 mark in ASUN play after sweeping Jacksonville and North Florida in the first two weekends. They currently sit at #21 in the RPI which jumped last week after taking down #12 Georgia Tech.

Josh Hatcher leads the team with a .400 batting average and is coming off a week in which he hit for the cycle twice. Tyler Sims and Cash Young lead the Owls with three home runs while Hatcher and Young each have a team-high 19 RBI.

On the mound, Brayden Eidson paces the team with a 1.62 ERA while John Bezdicek has 35 strikeouts. Jared Rine has also collected four saves on the season

Probable Pitching Matchups
VS. KENNESAW STATE, FRIDAY, APRIL 1 , 6:30 P.M.
RHP Jack Myers (1-1, 4.34 ERA, 23 K) vs RHP Jason Woodward (3-1, 1.93 ERA, 37 K)
VS. KENNESAW STATE, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2 P.M.
LHP John Bezdicek (3-1, 2.54 ERA, 35 K) vs RHP Tyler Shuck (4-1, 2.81 ERA, 30 K)
VS. KENNESAW STATE, SUNDAY, 12 P.M.
LHP Brayden Eidson (2-0, 1.62 ERA, 9 K) vs RHP Najer Victor (4-0, 2.22 ERA, 36 K)

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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 654-392-3 overall record (.623) and a 216-116 (.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.