JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For just the fifth time in the history of the Atlantic Sun Conference, one school has won both the league's Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards. FGCU's
Jon Embury was named the ASUN Player of the Year while
Evan Dempsey claimed Pitcher of the Year honors. They were two of the seven players named to the All-ASUN teams on Monday.
Florida Gulf Coast becomes the first school to claim for the second time Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors in the same year. The Eagles last did so in 2008 when Jason Peacock (Player) and Richard Bleier (Pitcher) claimed the two accolades.
FGCU claimed four first team honors Monday as
Evan Dempsey received the accolades twice – as a starting pitcher and as an outfielder.
Jon Embury (catcher) and
Javier Gorostola (third base) also received first team nods.
Chris Diaz (starting pitcher),
Hunter Possehl (starting pitcher) and
Jaret Nelson (first base) were named to the All-ASUN Second Team while
Ashton Pocol (relief pitcher) received third team honors.
The eight total all-conference awards are the second-most all-conference awards the Eagles have claimed in a single year, behind the nine honors awarded in 2023. It is the most by any school this season with North Alabama receiving six honors and Lipscomb receiving five accolades.
It is the first time one school has claimed Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors in the ASUN since Stetson in 2018. Troy (2005) and Jacksonville (2006) have also achieved the feat.
Already named semifinalist to the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy and John Olerud Two-Way Player awards, Dempsey claimed Pitcher of the Year honors after 116 strikeouts rank fourth in the nation and second in school history. He has 21 more strikeouts than the next-best ASUN pitcher overall and 14 more strikeouts than the next-best ASUN pitcher in conference play. He led the ASUN in batters struck out looking in league play and leads the ASUN in strikeouts per nine innings, WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio, while ranking in the top 50 nationally in all three categories.
As an outfielder, Dempsey led the ASUN during the regular season in runs scored and ranks in the top five of the league in hits, hits per game, doubles, runs per game, batting average and total bases. He is one of four FGCU players to hit 10-or-more home runs this season while also ranking seventh in the league in stolen bases. Combining all seasons and positions, these mark the third and fourth all-conference honors Dempsey has been awarded.
Named Player of the Year, Embury led the ASUN in hits per game, total bases, RBIs, RBIs per game, home runs, home runs per game and slugging percentage. Embury also was first among all ASUN catchers in hits, batting average and runs per game. His 20 runners caught stealing led the league by seven and his 12 runners caught stealing in conference play also led the ASUN. Entering this week's play, Embury's batting average ranks 10
th in school history, his 17 home runs in a season ranks 11
th in school history and his slugging percentage ranks fifth in school history. Embury's 17 home runs make him one of four FGCU players with 10-or-more home runs on the season.
Javier Gorostola began the season extending his hitting streak to 45 games, which ranks as the sixth-longest hitting streak in NCAA Division I history. Among other ASUN third basemen, he led the league in hits, batting average and RBIs per game. He was second overall in the ASUN in hits, batting average, and RBIs per game behind teammate
Jon Embury. Gorostola finished the regular season in the top 75 nationally in hits, hits per game, batting average, RBIs, RBIs per game and total bases.
Chris Diaz was bestowed second team honors finishing the regular season as part of the Eagles' entire weekend rotation ranking in the top seven in the ASUN in ERA. He threw the only nine-inning complete game in the ASUN this year, ranks fifth in the league in strikeouts per nine innings, and posted the league's second-best WHIP, behind only teammate
Evan Dempsey.
Jaret Nelson earned second team honors after leading all ASUN first basemen in batting average, OPS and hits, while being one of four Eagles to hit 10-or-more home runs this season. He finished the regular season ranked 16
th in the league in batting average, seventh in walks, 11
th in hits and 14
th in OPS.
Hunter Possehl rounds out FGCU's entire weekend rotation earning all-conference honors as he was named to the second team. Possehl's 2.35 ERA in conference games is the best in the ASUN while is overall 3.41 ERA ranks sixth in the conference, behind teammate
Evan Dempsey and one spot ahead of teammate
Chris Diaz. His 62 strikeouts this year rank 11th in the ASUN, behind teammates
Evan Dempsey and
Chris Diaz. Of the top 15 ASUN pitchers in innings pitched in conference-only games, his 12 earned runs allowed are the fewest, while his 14 walks rank fourth, Of all ASUN pitchers throwing 55.0 or more innings in all games, Possehl ranks second in earned runs allowed and fifth in walks allowed.
Ashton Pocol garnered third team accolades as all of his saves this year occurred in conference pay. His 13.43 career strikeouts per nine innings is a FGCU school record, surpassing Chris Sale and Kutter Crawford. Four of his five saves this year have came against teams with a winning record.
Earlier Monday, FGCU had
four players named to the ASUN All-Academic Team, three of which were named all-conference:
Logan Baisley,
Jaret Nelson,
Ashton Pocol and
Hunter Possehl, while Pocol was recently named the
ASUN Pitcher of the Week for the final week of the regular season.
The Eagles recently earned the No. 3 seed in the ASUN Tournament and will open tournament play on Wednesday, May 20 at 6 p.m., facing the winner of the Central Arkansas vs. Stetson opening round matchup.
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2026 ASUN Baseball Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Jon Embury, FGCU
Defensive Player of the Year: Sammy Mummau, Jacksonville
Pitcher of the Year: Evan Dempsey, FGCU
Coach of the Year: Joe Mercadante, North Florida
Freshman of the Year: Khaleel Pratt, EKU
First Team All-ASUN
Name Pos. School
**Evan Dempsey SP FGCU
Dakota Stone SP North Florida
Denver Hamilton SP Central Arkansas
Hunter Alexander RP Central Arkansas
Jon Embury C FGCU
AJ Swader 1B Bellarmine
Roger Vergara 2B Jacksonville
Javier Gorostola 3B FGCU
**Landon Akers SS Bellarmine
**Evan Dempsey OF FGCU
**Zeb Allen OF Central Arkansas
Nash Rippen OF North Alabama
Dylan Coleman DH North Alabama
Second Team All-ASUN
Name Pos. School
Brendan Holland SP Jacksonville
Hunter Possehl SP FGCU
Chris Diaz SP FGCU
Kaleb Kantola RP Lipscomb
Will Millard C North Alabama
Jaret Nelson 1B FGCU
Brady Miller 2B Lipscomb
Cam Pruitt 3B Lipscomb
Matthew Farner SS North Florida
Miles Hutson OF Lipscomb
David Alvarez OF EKU
Jordan Thomas OF Lipscomb
Boone Hosey DH North Florida
Third Team All-ASUN
Name Pos. School
Joey Ruller SP Queens
Jacob Price SP EKU
Alex Walsh SP Jacksonville
Ashton Pocol RP FGCU
Conner Spelman C Jacksonville
^Petey Craska 1B North Alabama
Jackson Westmoreland 2B North Alabama
Patrick McCullough 3B West Georgia
^Ray Velazquez 3B Austin Peay
Pedro Moreno SS EKU
Wes Walker OF North Alabama
Khaleel Pratt OF EKU
Gialdri Gomez OF North Florida
Yohann Dessureault DH Stetson
^ - a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person Third Team All-ASUN
* - denotes the number of career All-ASUN selections (at position)
All-Freshman Team
Khaleel Pratt, EKU
Jake Bell, Bellarmine
Cole Huett, Bellarmine
Mark Ross, Central Arkansas
Dylan Littlefield, EKU
Logan Baratta, Jacksonville
Kyle Hopper, Jacksonville
Ayden Phillips, Jacksonville
Cade Walter, Jacksonville
Cole Pippenger, Lipscomb
Sean Benjamin, North Florida
Devin Diggs, North Florida
Samuel Fernandez, Stetson
