FGCU Baseball: Research on Chapel Hill Regional Opponents

I did my research on the three teams from the Chapel Hill Regional that FGCU is in.

UNC is the No. 2 team in the nation and in the ACC Conference Tournament, UNC beat Boston College 10-0, in state rival, NC State 12-4 and Miami 12-4 before falling to FSU 3-7 in the championship game. Despite the loss, UNC had an at-large bid and a high RPI ranking, deeming themselves eligible for the top eight seed and No. 1 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional.

Award wise, UNC earned nine awards in the ACC (one Freshman of the Year, one Pitcher of the Year, four First Team All-ACC Baseball honors, one Third Team All-ACC Baseball honors and two ACC All-Freshman Team honors).

Individually, players to keep an eye on batting and base-running wise are juniors Logan Warmoth and Brian Miller and freshman Ashton McGee.

Warmoth leads the team in batting average (.349) hits (89), home runs (9), total bases (145). Warmoth is second in stolen bases behind Miller (18) and is tied for ninth in the nation in hits. The Orlando was also named one of four players on the All-ACC Baseball First Team and one of five players to represent UNC on the ACC All-Tournament Team.

Miller is more the speedster on the team and currently leads the team in stolen bases (22) and is tied for 32nd in the nation in most stolen bases with nine others. The Raleigh Native was also named to the All-ACC Baseball First Team and ACC All-Tournament Team. Miller is batting .340, second behind Warmoth, with seven home runs and 47 RBIs.

McGee is batting .340 with seven home runs and 44 RBIs. McGee's batting average is tied with Miller. The Pikeville, North Carolina native was named ACC Freshman of the Year, the ACC All-Freshman Team and the ACC All-Tournament Team.

Pitching wise, junior J.B. Bukauskas is a force to recon with. The Ashburn, Virginia native is 9-0 (tied 20th in the nation) and currently throwing a 2.02 ERA (tied 29th in the nation) and in 89 innings, he has given up 28 runs on 56 hits, walked 33 batters and struck out 111 batters (19th in the nation). Bukauskas was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year.

Davidson was the No. 6 seed in their conference. They beat No. 3 seeded St. Bonaventure 5-2 and No. 7 seeded George Mason 6-3 before falling 3-7 to No. 1 seeded VCU and was sent the losers bracket.

Hoping to recover, the Wildcats beat No. 5 seeded Saint Louis to make it to the championship game and face VCU in a tournament rematch. They would beat VCU 8-4 in the first game and 11-4 in the second game to claim the A-10 Conference championship.

Players to keep an eye on batting and base-running wise for Davidson are seniors Will Robertson and Brian Fortier.

Robertson leads the team in batting (.335) with 79 hits, 18 home runs (tied 15th in the nation) and 49 RBIs. The Greenville, South Carolina native was named on the A-10 All-Conference First Team, A-10 All-Academic Team and A-10 All-Tournament Team.

Fortier, a native of Holly Springs, North Carolina, batted .318 with 15 home runs and a team-leading 53 RBIs. Fortier was named on the A-10 All-Conference Second Team.

Pitching wise, senior Durin O'Linger is their best pitcher. O'Linger is 8-3 with a 2.85 ERA. In 101 innings, the Tampa, Florida native has given up 42 runs on 106 hits with 27 walks and 86 strikeouts.

Awards wise, Davidson had four players with baseball awards: Robertson was named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team, Fortier was on the A-10 All-Conference Second Team and along with the First Team honors, Robertson was named on the A-10 All-Academic Team along with O'Linger.

Michigan was the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament and the No. 16 team in the nation, but were one of the first two teams eliminated after losing to No. 7 seeded Northwestern and No. 6 seeded Indiana. They, however, received an at-large bid because of their RPI ranking (37).

Award wise, eight players from Michigan earned awards (5 Big Ten First Team, two Big Ten Third Team and one Big Ten All-Freshman Team).

Players to look out for the Wolverines batting wise are juniors Drew Lugbauer and Jake Bivens, sophomore Ako Thomas and senior Michael Brdar.

Lubauer, a native of Pleasant Valley, New York, lead the team in home runs (11)  and RBIs (58). Lubauer was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

Bivens, a Battle Creek, Michigan native, leads the team with 24 stolen base (tied 19th in the nation).

Thomas, a Chicago native, leads the team in batting average (.368) and second in stolen bases (21). Thomas was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

A native of Pleasanton, California, Brdar is batting .318 and leads the team in hits (74). Brdar was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team with Lubauer and Thomas.

Pitching wise, junior Oliver Jaskie is their best pitcher. A native of Ada, Michigan, Jaskie is 8-2 with a 3.30 ERA. In 87 innings, Jaskie has gave up 38 runs on 73 hits, walked 29 batters and struck out 113 (tied for 16th in the nation). Jaskie was also named on the All-Big Ten First Team.

FGCU and Michigan will start at 1 pm and the game between No. 2 UNC and Davidson will follow at 6 pm.

The winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will go to the Chapel Hill Super Regional and face the winner of the Houston Regional. The game will air on ESPN 3.