According to the NCAA via Baseball America, FGCU is ranked 12th in the nation, which was the best start in the program's history. But how did they go from being not ranked to now being ranked 12th in the nation? Put it this way: Not many unranked teams are able to beat top five baseball teams in the nation and are able to brag about it.
FGCU first beat then No. 2 and now No. 13 Florida twice. They first beat UF at "home," and when I mean "home," I mean at Jetblue Park because Swanson Stadium is too small to hold 2,000 plus people. FGCU beat UF 7-3. Hoping for a rematch, the Gators played the Eagles at their home and had a chance to beat, but a diving catch by redshirt junior outfielder Gage Morey saved FGCU and the Eagles won 3-2, thus sweeping the Gators.
FGCU were continued with a 10-game winning streak that started since February 25th when they played Bethune-Cookman before falling to unranked Ohio State on March 12th. FGCU then played the No. 1 team in the nation: Florida State. It looked like FSU would beat FGCU, but the Eagles would win 5-2.
FGCU is lead by head coach Dave Tollett, who is entering his 15th season. During the last game of the series against UNC-Wilmington, Tollett earned his 500th win as head coach for FGCU
Players on FGCU to keep a sharp lookout for are redshirt junior Mario Leon, junior Julio Gonzalez, redshirt senior Nick Rivera and senior Sterling Koerner.
Leon, a right handed pitcher, will be getting the start against USF. Leon is 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA. His most recent start was against FSU. In a no decision, he threw four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and threw four walks and five strikeouts.
Gonzalez, a transfer from Seminole State College in Oklahoma, is currently batting .365 with two home runs and eight RBIs. Gonzalez also hit the first cycle in FGCU history.
Rivera holds the career record for doubles and is in the top ten in the following categories: career games played (208), career games started (203), hits (237), runs scored (143), RBI (177), home runs (31) and career total bases (400). Rivera is only four RBIs away from breaking the career RBI record held jointly by Zach Maxfield and Tim Roberson. His best game most recently was against Rutgers when he went 4-for-5 with drove in a program high nine RBIs (two home runs, a single and a triple)
Korener has been mainly used as a closer and has six saves for the team.
Scouting #21 USF:
USF (19-1) is No. 21 team in the nation and most recently faced UNF and won by a score of 7-3. The Bulls had sweeps over Harvard, Miami (OH), Toledo and Valparaiso as well. The Bulls are on a 18-game winning streak, which is the third longest winning streak in the nation.
Taking the mound for USF is redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki. Strzelecki (1-0, 1.15) in 15.2 innings gave up 12 hits, six runs, 9 walks and struck out 18 batters.
Batting wise, sophomore David Villar is the lead power bat for the team with four home runs and 28 RBIs.
To go off topic a bit, personally, I have a fix with the game: "Why?" people would ask. The answer is I know someone on the team I went to school with at my junior college, and sometimes when I go to any of the athletic events, I get a little weary, not because of the game, but because any fan would heckle my friends too harshly. Of course, this was not my first rodeo with the situation. One example would be last year when someone I knew from my junior college and they played volleyball for FAU, I got really weary and didn't know what to do, so I asked a coach who she played for and she understood and it was a tough call because I have two alma maters, but she told me to stick with my school, and that is exactly what I did from that point on.
The game starts 6:30 p.m. and it is a blue out, so marketing is encouraging fans to wear blue during the game.
Taking the mound for USF is redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki. Strzelecki (1-0, 1.15) in 15.2 innings gave up 12 hits, six runs, 9 walks and struck out 18 batters.
Batting wise, sophomore David Villar is the lead power bat for the team with four home runs and 28 RBIs.
To go off topic a bit, personally, I have a fix with the game: "Why?" people would ask. The answer is I know someone on the team I went to school with at my junior college, and sometimes when I go to any of the athletic events, I get a little weary, not because of the game, but because any fan would heckle my friends too harshly. Of course, this was not my first rodeo with the situation. One example would be last year when someone I knew from my junior college and they played volleyball for FAU, I got really weary and didn't know what to do, so I asked a coach who she played for and she understood and it was a tough call because I have two alma maters, but she told me to stick with my school, and that is exactly what I did from that point on.
The game starts 6:30 p.m. and it is a blue out, so marketing is encouraging fans to wear blue during the game.
2 comments:
First off, it was interesting to read all about the stats about certain players. They have had an impressive year and I don't think people would have thought they would beat FSU. I think the past you talked about your friend playing for USF can be another story about your experience.
Hey Pat! Im so happy that you wrote about this because we talked about it in class. I love the information that you put up about the players. Go Eagles!
Post a Comment