FORT MYERS, Fla. - Florida Gulf Coast University will look to solidify its spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings this weekend as the Eagles play host to Eastern Kentucky University for the final three-game set at home this season. First pitch in Friday's contest is set for 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium.
The Eagles (23-23, 15-9 ASUN) are coming off a key sweep of Jacksonville last weekend which knocked the Dolphins out of first place in the ASUN standings. FGCU now sits in a tie for third in the league with Stetson and JU, with Kennesaw State one-half game ahead at 15-8 and Austin Peay in the top spot at 16-8.
Just as important as the regular season standings are where ASUN teams rank in RPI. The Eagles currently rank third in RPI among conference teams at No. 136. Stetson (117) and Kennesaw State (86) are the two schools ahead of the Eagles, while Jacksonville (203) ranks sixth in RPI among conference teams. If the season ended today, APSU would hold the top seed in the tournament and in Pool A, with Stetson, KSU, and FGCU rounding out the four for the pool. Pool A sends three teams to the championship round automatically, while the four teams in Pool B play a double-elimination tournament to see who moves into the championship round.
EKU (17-32, 11-13 ASUN) is fighting for its tournament life as it enters the weekend. The Colonels are tied for seventh with Central Arkansas in the regular season standings. With an RPI of 263, the Colonels trail North Florida (237) for eighth in the RPI rankings.
Strong Friday pitching has been one of the keys to recent success for FGCU. Since becoming FGCU's Friday starter,
Davian Garcia has allowed only eight earned runs in 29.2 innings of work. He has also racked up 29 strikeouts during that stretch. His ERA is also a team-best 2.98 this season.
On the back end of games,
Justin Henschel has become one of the go-to arms out of the bullpen for head coach
Dave Tollett. Henschel pitched twice in the series sweep of JU, earning the win in game one with two innings of relief as FGCU's final pitcher out of the pen.
Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m., with Sunday's game rescheduled for a noon start. FGCU will honor its baseball senior class at 11:20 a.m. Sunday.
