FORT MYERS, Fla. – As part of its conference-wide "top seasons" campaign, the ASUN has announced that the 2017 FGCU Baseball team has been dubbed the best in program history. The release, which was posted on Thursday afternoon, celebrates the most successful seasons of all nine league programs.
In addition to the record-breaking 2017 slate, which saw the Green and Blue capture the team's first ASUN Tournament title, the conference also awarded honorable mention distinction to the 2008, 2010 and 2014 seasons.
"That was such a great season all the way around," head coach
Dave Tollett said. "We were ranked ninth in the country, which is higher than any program we've had here at FGCU. That was such an awesome feeling. Getting a chance to go to an NCAA Regional and winning game one stands out to me, as well. It was such a memorable season for FGCU Baseball."
In the four years highlighted by the ASUN, the Eagles racked up as many combined ASUN Championship titles: three regular season crowns (2008, 2010, 2014) and one ASUN Tournament Championship (2017). Since its inaugural year in the league in 2008, FGCU Baseball has won five regular season titles, with the most recent achievement coming in 2019.
While much of the excitement of the 2017 season came in its final weeks, the Eagles made history throughout the campaign as a whole. The team went 4-2 against ranked opponents, most notably earning a 5-2 result over No. 1 Florida State on March 15 at JetBlue Park. Under Tollett's guidance, the Eagles also picked up a pair of wins against No. 2 Florida and a victory over No. 21 USF. Additionally, the team swept a UNC Wilmington team that was receiving votes in the national polls while on the road. The finale of the series against the Seahawks marked the 500th win of Tollett's career.
The team's success was supplemented by one of the more talented rosters that the program has ever seen. Led by ASUN Player of the Year and former two-time All American
Nick Rivera, FGCU also had the ASUN Freshman of the Year on its roster in current player
Richie Garcia. In addition to Rivera, both
Kutter Crawford and
Julio Gonzalez earned First Team All-ASUN recognition. Garcia, who went on to become a Freshman All-American, landed on the ASUN All-Freshmen Team alongside current teammate
Marc Coffers, as well as recent graduate
Alex Brait.
FGCU entered the 2017 ASUN Baseball Championship as the No. 3 seed and knocked off top-seeded Jacksonville to win its first-ever tournament title. The championship game went into 10 innings of play before Coffers finally scored the winning run on a wild pitch to hand FGCU the 4-3 decision. Coffers was named Tournament MVP for his efforts, which helped the team to secure its first bid to an NCAA Division I Regional.
The Eagles were sent to the Chapel Hill Regional, where they faced off against Michigan, Davidson and UNC. In their inaugural postseason contest, FGCU downed the Wolverines by a score of 10-6 thanks to a pair of homers off the bat of Rivera. Though the team fell to both Davidson and UNC, thus ending its historic season, there was still more excitement to come as RHP
Kutter Crawford (16th round, 491st pick by the Boston Red Sox), SS
Julio Gonzalez (17th round, 510th pick by the Kansas City Royals) and RHP
Garrett Anderson (35th round, 1039th pick by the Tampa Bay Rays) all went on to hear their names called in the 2017 MLB Draft.
Other highlights from the 2017 season, as well as the trio of seasons that received honorable mention distinction, are listed below.
| ASUN Baseball Top Season: 2017 Eagles |
| Overall Record |
43-20 |
| Conference Record |
13-8 |
| Conference Finish (Championship Game Result) |
3rd (W, 4-3 vs No. 1 Jacksonville - 10 inn.) |
| Highest Team Ranking |
No. 9 | March 28 - April 11 (Collegiate Baseball) |
| MLB Draft Selections |
RHP Kutter Crawford | 16th round, 491st pick by the Boston Red Sox
SS Julio Gonzalez | 17th round, 510th pick by the Kansas City Royals
RHP Garrett Anderson | 35th round, 1039th pick by the Tampa Bay Rays |
| NCAA Regional |
W, 10-6 vs No. 3 Michigan (Chapel Hill Regional)
L, 2-1 vs No. 4 Davidson (Chapel Hill Regional)
L, 10-1 vs No. 1 UNC (Chapel Hill Regional) |
| ASUN Honors |
Player of the Year: Nick Rivera (DH)
Freshman of the Year: Richie Garcia (3B)
First Team: Kutter Crawford (RHP), Julio Gonzalez (SS), Nick Rivera (DH)
All-Freshmen Team: Richie Garcia (3B), Alex Brait (C), Marc Coffers (OF)
All-Academic Team: Corey Fehribach (INF/OF)
ASUN Tournament MVP: Marc Coffers (OF)
All-Tournament Team: Kutter Crawford (RHP), Nick Rivera (DH), Marc Coffers (OF), Kenton Herring (UTIL) |
| Perfect Game All-American |
Third Team: Nick Rivera |
| Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American |
First Team: Richie Garcia |
| South ABCA All-Region Team |
Second Team: Nick Rivera |
| ASUN Baseball Top Season: 2008 Eagles |
| Overall Record |
38-15 |
| Conference Record |
25-8 |
| Conference Finish (Championship Game Result) |
1st (not eligible for the postseason due to NCAA reclassification rules) |
| MLB Draft Picks |
LHP Richard Bleier | 6th round, 183rd pick by the Texas Rangers
RHP Casey Coleman | 15th round, 461st pick by the Chicago Cubs
1B Jason Peacock | 26th round, 778th pick by the Florida Marlins |
| ASUN Honors |
Player of the Year: Jason Peacock (1B)
Pitcher of the Year: Richard Bleier (LHP)
Coach of the Year: Dave Tollett
First Team: Richard Bleier (LHP), JJ Crumbley (RHP), Jason Peacock (1B), Ozzie Borrell (OF)
Second Team: Pete Woodworth (RHP), Mikel Alvarez (2B)
All-Freshman Team: Richie Erath (RHP), Chris Sale (LHP), Mikel Alvarez (2B) |
| ASUN Baseball Top Season: 2010 Eagles |
| Overall Record |
38-20 |
| Conference Record |
25-5 |
| Conference Finish (Championship Game Result) |
1st (not eligible for the postseason due to NCAA reclassification rules) |
| MLB Draft Picks |
LHP Chris Sale | 1st round, 13th pick by the Chicago White Sox
RHP Pete Woodworth | Signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays |
| ASUN Honors |
Pitcher of the Year: Chris Sale (LHP)
Coach of the Year: Dave Tollett
First Team: Chris Sale (LHP), Pete Woodworth (RHP), Mikel Alvarez (2B), Stephen Wickens (SS)
Second Team: Richie Erath (RHP), Zach Maxfield (1B) |
| Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year |
Chris Sale (LHP) |
| ABCA/Rawlings All-American |
First Team: Chris Sale (LHP) |
| Baseball America All-American |
First Team: Chris Sale (LHP) |
| Yahoo! Sports All-American |
First Team: Chris Sale (LHP) |
| USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Runner-Up |
Chris Sale (LHP) |
| South ABCA All-Region |
First Team: Chris Sale (LHP)
Second Team: Mikel Alvarez (2B) |
| ASUN Baseball Top Season: 2014 Eagles |
| Overall Record |
39-22 |
| Conference Record |
19-8 |
| Conference Finish (Championship Game Result) |
1st (L, 11-4 vs No. 4 Lipscomb) |
| MLB Draft Picks |
OF Michael Suchy | 5th round, 161st pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates
RHP Zach Tillery | 13th round, 380th pick by the Minnesota Twins
RHP Ryan Atwood | 30th round, 897th pick by the San Diego Padres |
| ASUN Honors |
Pitcher of the Year: Michael Murray (RHP)
Freshman of the Year: Jake Noll (2B)
Coach of the Year: Dave Tollett
First Team: Michael Murray (RHP), Jake Noll (2B), Michael Suchy (OF)
All-Freshmen Team: Jake Noll (2B)
All-Academic Team: Michael Suchy (OF)
All-Tournament Team: Jack English (RHP), Nick Rivera (1B) |
| Louisville Slugger National Freshman of the Year |
Jake Noll (2B) |
| ABCA/Rawlings All-American |
Third Team: Mike Murray (RHP) |
| Louisville Slugger All-American |
Second Team: Mike Murray (RHP)
Third Team: Jake Noll (2B) |
| NCBWA All-American |
Third Team: Mike Murray (RHP) |
| NCBWA Freshman All-American |
First Team: Jake Noll (2B) |
| South ABCA All-Region |
First Team: Mike Murray (RHP) |
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www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU baseball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
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COACH TOLLETT
FGCU coach Dave Tollett currently owns a 608-365-3 overall record (.624) and a 199-109 (.646) 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 54 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, 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 (www.fgcu.edu/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 www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher 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--
