FGCU-USF Game Notes | FGCU-USF Live Stats | Watch FGCU-USF | 2023 FGCU baseball stats | 2023 FGCU schedule
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 30 FGCU baseball team (29-11) begins a four-game road trip Tuesday afternoon, as the Eagles head to Tampa to take on South Florida. First pitch from USF Baseball Stadium is set for 3 p.m., and the game will be available to view on ESPN+.
FGCU is coming off a pivotal ASUN Conference series victory at home against Jacksonville State, taking two of three from the Gamecocks to maintain a share of the ASUN Conference lead. The Eagles' 12-5 victory at Swanson Stadium marked coach
Dave Tollett's 700
th career victory – as he became one of only 35 active Division I coaches with at least 700 wins.
The Bulls are 17-24 overall and lost three of their last four games, including dropping a home series against Central Florida and being run-ruled twice last week.
At .276, South Florida is hitting 50 points below FGCU as a team. Eric Snow leads the Bulls with a .319 batting average, and both Bobby Boser and Daniel Cantu have hit 10 of USF's 48 homers.
The Green & Blue remain one of the hottest offensive teams in college baseball – ranking first nationally in home runs (95), home runs per game (2.38) and slugging percentage (.604). FGCU's 95 homers in 40 games is already a school record, eclipsing the 94 homers set in 58 games last season.
FGCU is also ranked also ranked second nationally in runs (404), third in scoring (10.1 runs per game) and hit by pitch (91), fourth in hits (461), and fifth in batting average (.326) – all of which also lead the ASUN Conference.
The hottest Eagle of them all is junior infielder
Edrick Felix (
Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida), who was named ASUN Player of the Week on Monday after delivering one of the strongest hitting weeks in recent history. In four games, Felix hit .562 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs, and nine RBIs. He went 5-for-5 with three doubles and a triple in the Sunday win against JSU.
Felix leads the Green & Blue in batting average (409), hits (67), doubles (20), home runs (18), total bases (143), slugging percentage (.872), and on-base percentage (.485) this season. He is fourth in the country in doubles and doubles per game, fifth in slugging percentage, and sixth in home runs.
Felix isn't the only offensive standout in FGCU's starting lineup. Seven other every-day Eagles are hitting over .300, including Senior designated hitter
Joe Kinker (
North Port, Fla./Venice HS) and senior infielder
Alejandro Figueredo (
Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) – who are both at .361 with 27 combined home runs. Junior infielder/pitcher
Jacob Lojewski (
West Palm Beach, Fla./Delray American Heritage HS) is second with 16 home runs, and is slugging .715.
FGCU will turn to one of those hot-hitting position players on the mound Tuesday, as senior
Stephen Wilmer (
Sarasota, Fla./Riverview HS/Pasco-Hernando State/ECU) – who is hitting .311 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs – makes his first collegiate start after striking out six over three innings of relief last week against FIU.
The Green & Blue lead the all-time series against USF 19-8, and have won two straight – including a 5-3 victory at Swanson Stadium on March 21. The Eagles are also 11-2 at USF Baseball Stadium, most recently winning 12-4 there on April 12, 2022.
The Eagles remain on the road this weekend, traveling to Clarksville, Tenn., to face Austin Peay in a three-game ASUN series beginning Friday night.
For complete coverage of FGCU baseball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_Baseball and online at
http://www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
http://www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
Tickets for the 2023 FGCU baseball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach
Dave Tollett currently owns a 700-419-3 overall record (.625) and a 241-134 (.643) 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 63 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, two National Freshman All-Americans, 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 98 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
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