FGCU-North Florida box score | 2023 FGCU baseball stats | 2023 FGCU schedule
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was 745 days ago that then-sophomore FGCU outfielder
Brian Ellis (
Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) didn't reach base safely in a college baseball game.
For the ensuing 117 games, what Ellis did was nothing short of magical – as the only captain in FGCU's 21-year baseball history reached base safely in every game for over two years. Rain or shine, healthy or dinged up, win or lose … Ellis was the constant for the Eagles. It earned him an unofficial NCAA record, and the respect of both three sets of teammates and scores of opponents.
Ellis' incredible streak ended Friday night, as the FGCU graduate went 0-for-4 in FGCU's 9-1 loss to North Florida in the first of a three-game weekend series at Harmon Stadium. The loss, combined with Lipscomb's Friday night victory against Austin Peay, dropped the Green & Blue (36-13 overall, 18-7 ASUN) out of a tie for first place in the conference standings for the first time all season.
Despite the setback, FGCU officially clinched a berth in the eight-team ASUN Baseball Championship beginning May 23 in DeLand, Fla.
FGCU managed just five hits against the Ospreys in the series opener, and scored its lone run on a solo home run by sophomore infielder
Edrick Felix (
Orlando, Fla./Victory Charter HS/College of Central Florida) in the sixth inning. Felix broke
Ian Farrow's single-season FGCU record with his 22
nd homer of the season, and the Eagles have now bashed a school-record 115 homers this season.
Through all the explosive offense FGCU has mustered all season, it truly all began with Ellis. The Green & Blue won 65.8 percent of its games during his 117-game streak of reaching base safely (via hit, walk, or hit-by-pitch). Ellis recorded 163 hits, drew 93 walks, and was hit by a pitch 43 times during the streak – which began when he drew a walk and was hit by a pitch in a home game against North Florida on April 30, 2021. In all during the streak, Ellis reached base 299 times in 596 plate appearances – a .502 clip.
"It is hard to put it into perspective. I look at it all the time and can't quite figure out, even though I have seen it every single day up close," said FGCU head baseball coach
Dave Tollett. "He is the most unselfish player I have ever coached. Hats off to him for 117. It was an unbelievable, unbelievable streak. It takes a little bit of everything, a bit of luck too, but he took advantage of everything he could."
Ellis reached base safely in the final 11 of FGCU's games in 2021, in all 58 games of 2022, and the first 48 of the 2023 season. He broke the former unofficial national record of 101 games – the NCAA hasn't charted reaching base safely streaks since its inception – previously held by Texas standout Mark Payton by drawing a leadoff walk against FAU in game No. 102 on April 11, 2023.
"When you look at it, you don't think it is possible to get on base 117 straight games like that," Tollett said. "That I lived it and saw it every day, I know what kind of player it takes. Which is why I don't think it will be broken for a long time."
Ellis' struggles Friday night ran parallel to the challenges FGCU faced as a unit against the Ospreys. Only nine hitters reached base all night, as the UNF pitching duo of Peter Holden and Lance Bolden combined to strike out seven Green & Blue hitters.
"We just didn't play well in every aspect," Tollett said. "They hit .379 and we hit .156, and their bottom of the lineup out-hit us by a lot. It just wasn't good all the way around. We have been here a lot lately on Friday nights, though, so we will come back Saturday and do what we do to try and even it up."
North Florida (26-24, 12-13) got home runs from Austin Brinling, Jakob Runnels, and Cherokee Nichols as part of a 14-hit attack. FGCU starter
Tyler Tipton (
Tampa, Fla./Gaither HS/South Florida State) absorbed the loss.
The two teams return to action at 2:05 p.m. Saturday. FGCU sends freshman right-hander
Justin Henschel (
Plantation, Fla./South Plantation HS) to the mound against UNF's Dominick Madonna.
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.
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach
Dave Tollett currently owns a 708-420-3 overall record (.627) and a 246-137 (.642) 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.
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#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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