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DeLAND, Fla. – When Brian Ellis leads off the first inning, teammate Joe Kinker often shares a few words to him.
 
"Give me my six pitches," Kinker says. "Give me my six."
 
It's not just what Kinker wants, it's what all the hitters in Florida Gulf Coast University's lineup want.
 
See what the opposing pitcher is throwing. See his entire arsenal.
 
When Ellis goes to the plate for the first time, he isn't just hitting for himself. He's hitting for his teammates.
 
By accommodating his mates, Ellis arguably has become the best leadoff hitter in college baseball. He broke the unofficial NCAA record of 101 straight games safely reaching base earlier in 2023, then extended it to 117 games.
 
In college baseball terms, that's about two seasons.
 
Ellis and the second-seeded Eagles (39-17) will look to extend their success Thursday when they play top-seeded Lipscomb in Pool A play of the ASUN Baseball Championship.
 
The Eagles rank in the top 25 in the NCAA in nine offensive categories and lead in homers (129) and slugging percentage (.590).
 
Ellis, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-handed hitter, is the table-setter.
 
On a team of guys who get on base, Ellis has the top on-base percentage at .481. His 72 combined walks and hit-by-pitches also leads the team.
 
"He's fun to watch, man," FGCU coach Dave Tollett says of his graduate captain.
 
As he reflects on the record, Ellis says humbly, "I just think, that's a lot of days. It really took a long time. I had to be consistent with my daily routine and keep progressing as a player and working on what I need to do as a player."
 
Ellis is what you'd expect of a player who reached base 117 games in a row – smiling but not overly excitable; proud but not in the least bit braggadocious; thoughtful but a bit private.
 
"I enjoy the ups of the game, but I never try to get too high," he says. "In the game of baseball, you're gonna struggle at some point. But I don't get too mentally involved in the lows. I keep to my routines to get out of my slumps."
 
The pre-game routine is a near split of field work to video. He talks of "Doing stuff, hitting stuff, getting stuff done before a game." Specifics are hard to pin down.
 
The former Hagerty High School star says he's been level-headed for most of his life, and credits his parents Dyann and Ed for being that way.
 
When a teammate noted him closing in on the national reaching base safely record, Ellis says, "That's awesome," then went about his business.
 
Ellis is like your mailman, your 40-year employee, your grandmother or favorite aunt – there day after day, doing their thing.
 
And it works.
 
Now, Ellis will mix things up and go after a pitch early in the count if he likes it. He does have seven homers this season, and 16 in his collegiate career.
 
But he also knows he can do the most damage by making his foe toil on the mound.
 
There are players who say, "I don't care if I go 0-for-5, as long as we win."
 
Ellis understands he can't be one of those guys. But he also understands if he goes 0-for-3 with two walks while seeing about 25-30 pitches, that's a good day.
 
He's the pulse of the team. The pressure of breaking an NCAA record didn't get to him that much, because he saw it more as something to help his team as opposed to an individual achievement he wanted to extend.
 
"I didn't change my approach," he says. "It's always to get on base and win the game. If I get on base, the greater chance we have to win the game.
 
"And the more pitches you see – different locations, different pitches – the better the chance at success."
 
ASUN Player of the Year Edrick Felix, who follows Ellis in the lineup, adds, "We have a scouting report on a pitcher, but it may be that he only has one off-speed pitch or one fastball. After Brian faces him, we see if he has a two-seam fastball or cutter or second fastball or second off-speed pitch. He gives us a heads up – me, Figgy, Kinker, ARod.
 
"The majority of the time, it is a six- or seven-pitch first inning at-bat; and it's a huge advantage to us as a team."
 
Kinker, the No. 3 hitter, admires Ellis' patience at the plate.
 
"If a pitcher is on his 15th, 16th pitch when he sees me, we can do a lot more damage," Kinker says.
 
An equally appreciative Tollett adds, "He makes you throw every pitch so the other hitters get to see what the pitcher's got. He'll foul off pitches, and foul off more pitches; and from a hitter's standpoint, you get to see it all.
 
"And that's why you'll hear Joe say, 'Thank you Brian for giving me my six.' "
 
COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 710-245-3 overall record (.626) and a 248-140 (.639) 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 49 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 3.57 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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---