With last year's season in the books, the FGCU baseball team returns to the mounds as they will open their first four games of the season against Eastern Michigan at home.
Last year, the Eagles went 43-20 with a 13-8 record in the A-SUN. During the season, FGCU had some strong moments that set the bar for them:
1. Had two 10-game winning streaks (February 25-March 11, March 15-31).
2. Beat the then #1 and #2 teams in the nation sweeping Florida and beating Florida State.
3. Clinched an automatic spot in the NCAA national tournament.
4. Won the A-SUN Conference Tournament for the first time in program history.
5. Ranked as high as #9 in the nation in the NCAA Top 25 Polls.
FGCU won the A-SUN Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the tournament. After shutting out UNF, the Eagles would lose to Kennesaw, dropping into the losers' bracket. After defeating No. 6 seed Lipscomb, the Eagles bounced back and defeated Kennesaw in a rematch and would face Jacksonville in the championship. Because they lost a prior game, the Eagles played in the championship game twice. Had they lost, JU would go on the national tournament, but in the end, the Eagles won twice and clinched the automatic spot for the national tournament. The Eagles played in the Chapel Hill Regional for the tournament. They would beat Michigan, but would fall to Davidson and host UNC thus being eliminated from the tournament.
Tough Losses:
FGCU lost three key players as pitcher Kutter Crawford, infielder Julio Gonzalez and pitcher Garrett Anderson were selected to be in the MLB Draft. Crawford was selected to the Boston Red Sox in the 16th round, Gonzalez was selected in the 17th round to the Kansas City Royals and Anderson was selected in the 38th round to the Tampa Bay Rays.
In addition, Nick Rivera returns to FGCU as the director of baseball operations. Rivera was not only the A-SUN Player of the Year, but he holds the record for most career home runs in the A-SUN (46) as well as other records in conference and in the nation.
New Additions:
The Eagles signed 11 newcomers to play (seven freshman, four transfers).
The freshman to expect include Tyler Shuck and Brian Ellis.
Shuck is listed as a right-handed pitcher and infielder. A Cape Coral native, Shuck is rated a top-120 player in Florida and top-500 player nationally. As a pitcher, Shuck posted a career 15-3 record with a 1.74 ERA and as a batter, he was a career .373 hitter with 13 home runs and 101 RBI.
Ellis is listed as an outfielder and first baseman. Like Chuck, Ellis is also rated a top-150 player in Florida and top-500 player nationally. Ellis turned in a .414/.553/.606 slash line with 19 RBI and 13 extra-base hits his senior season.
All four transfers are from NJCAA colleges. Transfers to keep eyes on include Justin Gill and Kohl Gilmore.
Gill, listed as a left-handed pitcher, transferred from Polk State College as a junior, where he posted a 6-4 record with a 2.29 ERA. He led the team with 73 strikeouts and was named a First Team All-Suncoast Conference member.
Gilmore is listed as a first baseman/third baseman. Kohl enter as a redshirt sophomore transferring from Indian River State College. In Gilmore's last season, he led the team with eight home runs and 42 RBI in 42 games played and turned in a .978 fielding percentage at first base. He will have three years of eligibility remaining as an Eagle.
Key Returners:
Some of the key returners include redshirt seniors Kenton Hering and Mario Leon, sophomore Richie Garcia and seniors Eli Lovell and Spencer Levine.
Hering, who was mainly the setup relief pitcher, was second on the team in saves behind former closer Sterling Koerner. Hering posted a 7-3 record with a 1.96 ERA. Hering will most likely be the closer for the Eagles. Hering was named to the last year's A-SUN All-Tournament Team for his success in the postseason including his strong performance against Kennesaw where he threw 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out six batters.
Leon, a right-handed pitcher who posted a 5-2 record with a 4.70 ERA, bounced back and forth between being in the starting rotation and the bullpen. It is not fully clear where he will play, but I'm guessing it will be the same route from last season.
Garcia, an infielder who is known for his catchy walk-up song, posted a .279 batting average with six home runs and 37 RBIs. Garcia was named A-SUN Freshman of the Year and a member of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team.
Lovell, an outfielder who transferred from Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC), batted .283 with 60 hits, six home runs and 40 RBIs.
Levine, a catcher who tfrom Seminole State College (FL), was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List as one of the nation’s top catchers in early March last season. Levine batted .284 with five home runs and 38 RBIs.
Scouting Eastern Michigan:
The Eastern Michigan Eagles were 27-35 overall with a 14-10 record in the MAC. After losing the open game in the MAC Conference Tournament to Western Michigan (5-6 (10)), they went on to beat Northern Illinois (8-7), a rematch with Western Michigan (12-6) and Central Michigan (9-1, 4-2) before falling to Ohio (4-7) in the championship game.
New Additions:
Eastern Michigan signed nine freshman and eight junior college transfers.
Eastern Michigan will be losing players like John Montgomery and Sam Delaplane. Delaplane was drafted to the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round of the MLB Draft.
Series History:
FGCU and Eastern Michigan have played each other in one game last season. FGCU beat Eastern Michigan 12-5 on Wednesday February 22, 2017.
FGCU and Eastern Michigan will play each other four times. They will play a doubleheader on Friday at 2 PM and 5:30 PM, Saturday at 1 PM and Sunday at 1 PM. It is not clear what color outing it will be, but if I had to guess from the previous home opening season, it would be either a blue out or a green out and marketing would encourage fans to wear blue or green to the game.
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