FGCU Baseball: Selection, Region and First Team is Chosen

The selection show for the NCAA College Baseball Tournament has just been finalized for FGCU.

FGCU (42-18, 11-3 A-Sun) was selected in the Chapel Hill Regional of the Chapel Hill Super Regional in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UNC will be hosting the regional since it is at Chapel Hill.

The four teams have been finalized in the regional and FGCU will face the University of Michigan (42-15, 16-8 Big Ten).

Joining FGCU and Michigan in the regional will be Davidson College (32-24, 13-11 A-10) and No. 2 UNC (47-12, 22-7 ACC).

The seed are listed as followed:
1. No. 2 UNC
2. FGCU
3. Michigan
4. Davidson

The Chapel Hill Regional will go against the Houston Regional in Houston, Texas. Four teams will be playing there in order:

1.Houston (40-19, 15-9 AAC)
2. Baylor (34-21, 12-12 Big 12)
3. Texas A&M (36-21, 16-14 SEC)
4. Iowa (38-20, 15-9 Big Ten)

Houston will be the host of the Houston Regional.

FGCU won the A-SUN Conference Tournament Championship and claimed an automatic bid this past Saturday after beating JU twice in the championship (4-2 in game 1 and 4-3 (10) in game 2).

It was the help of a variety of players from FGCU that help them win and the players to look for are A-SUN Player of the Year, Nick Rivera, A-SUN Freshman of the Year, Richie Garcia, A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Marc Coffers, Kenton Hering, Sterling Koerner and A-SUN First Team All-Conference members, Julio Gonzalez and Kutter Crawford.

Rivera, a redshirt senior and the powerhouse of the team, currently lead the team and the A-SUN in home runs (17). His 17 home runs also helped him claim the record for most home runs overall in the A-SUN with 43. Rivera was also a A-SUN First Team All-Conference member and A-SUN All-Tournament Team member. In the nation, Rivera is fourth in the nation in walks (57), eighth in the nation in walks per game (.95) and 22nd in the nation with 17 home runs.

Garcia, a freshman, is mainly known for his contact swing and popular walk-up song. To go with  the A-SUN Freshman of the Year title, Garcia was also a member of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team.

Coffers, also a freshman, was named to the A-SUN All-Freshman and A-SUN All-Tournament Team. Coffers also was named A-SUN All-Tournament Team MVP after batting .500 throughout the whole tournament. He had 10 hits, one home run, five RBI and five runs scored.

Hering, a redshirt junior and transfer from Eastern Florida State College, was the set up man for relief pitching. The Melbourne, Florida native went 2-0 with two saves and pitched in four of the six games throughout the whole tournament that were crucial including against Kennesaw State and the first game against JU. Hering (7-3-6, 2.04 ERA) was also named to the A-SUN All-Tournament Team.

Despite struggling in the series against JU in the season, Koerner is normally the closer for the team. The  Ft. Pierce native leads the team in saves (12). The senior's save count is tied for 20th in the nation for most saves. Koerner had his only start of his senior season throwing 6.1 innings in a no decision against JU in the second championship game. He gave up three runs on six hits, walked one and struck out one.

Gonzalez, a junior college transfer from Seminole State College in Oklahoma, was an A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, and played a crucial role in the final game of the championship game. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native hit a game-tying two run single that helped FGCU rout to the 4-3 win in the championship. Gonzalez is ranked 42nd in the nation in hits.

Crawford, also a junior college transfer from Indian River State College, only played one game in the tournament. In the opening game against UNF, Crawford threw eight shutout innings and gave up four hits, walk two batters and struck out 10. The Okeechobee native was named an A-SUN First Team All-Conference member and an A-SUN All-Tournament Team member. Crawford is No. 8 in the nation in ERA with a 1.58 ERA.


In the matchups, No. 2 FGCU will face No. 3 Michigan at 1 pm while No.1 UNC faces No. 4 Davidson at 6 pm.

All the matchups in the regionals will vary and air on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPNews, ESPNU, and probably the SEC Network. Each regional is double elimination.

The winners of the Chapel Hill Regional and the Houston Regional will face each other in a best of three series in the Chapel Hill Super Regionals.