Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of winning their final home series against A-SUN newcomer Liberty at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles would defeat the Flames 7-4 in the first before falling 4-2 in the second game. In the rubber match, which was also FGCU's senior day, the Eagles claimed the series in a nail biter as they won 10-9.
The Standings for the tournament are the order of the seeds by overall and conference record:
1. #1 FGCU (34-19, 16-7 A-SUN)*^
2. #2 Liberty (37-18, 15-9 A-SUN)*
3. #3 Lipscomb (30-23, 14-10 A-SUN)*
4. #4 Jacksonville (30-25, 13-11 A-SUN)*
5. #5 UNF (31-23, 12-11 A-SUN)*
6. #6 Stetson (24-30, 11-12 A-SUN)*
Kennesaw (27-29, 11-13 A-SUN), North Alabama (16-38, 7-16 A-SUN) and NJIT (17-27-1, 7-17 A-SUN) were not eligible to be in the tournament due to their conference records.
For North Alabama, this is their first year with the A-SUN, so regardless if they went to the A-SUN Tournament, they would not be able to play in the national tournament per the four-year transitional period and if they would win the tournament, the same rules would be implied and FGCU would go to the national tournament as the regular season champions.
A-SUN Tournament Breakdown:
The A-SUN Conference Baseball Tournament is a double elimination tournament. Once a team loses a game, they will get sent down to a losers bracket. Once a team get two losses, they are eliminated from the tournament.
What's at stake? The winner of the A-SUN Conference Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA National Tournament. Any of the other teams will await for an at-large bid.
FGCU will face Stetson in the opening round of the conference tournament.
A-SUN Awards and Accolades:
Before the tournament began, the A-SUN released awards for the players mentioned.
A-SUN Player of the Year:
In their first year in the A-SUN, Liberty would be the one to take A-SUN Player of the Year as it was claimed by redshirt-junior Jonathan Embry. Embry finished with a .296 batting average, nine home runs and 37 RBI.
A-SUN Pitcher of the Year:
For the A-SUN Pitcher of the Year award, it belonged to UNF's redshirt senior Brad Deppermann. Deppermann went 6-4 with a conference leading 2.09 ERA and 101 strikeouts.
A-SUN Coach of the Year:
FGCU was able to get one of the big awards as head coach Dave Tollett was named A-SUN Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career. Tollett currently has 599 career wins and a win in the conference tournament will earn his 600th career win as head coach.
A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year:
For the A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year, it was awarded to Jacksonville's redshirt junior Dakota Julylia. Julylia posted a .983 fielding percentage while batting .305 with a home run and 25 RBI.
A-SUN Freshman of the Year:
For the A-SUN Freshman of the Year, Stetson's Daniel Paret would earn the title. Paret was 5-3 with a 3.47 ERA and 97 strikeouts.
A-SUN All-Conference First Team:
Junior Mason Studstill would be the only Eagle to make the A-SUN All-Conference First Team after putting up a 5-2 record with a 2.31 ERA (2nd in the A-SUN) and 91 strikeouts. Studstill, a double transfer from Miami and Eastern Florida State (NJCAA), has posted the lowest opponent batting average (.164) in a single season in FGCU history, while allowing an average of 5.18 hits per nine innings, good for eighth in the national standings. Studstill pitched a no-decision against Liberty after throwing five innings with no strikeouts.
Other members that joined the A-SUN All-Conference First Team are as listed:
UNF: Deppermann, senior Jay Prather and junior Tanner Murphy
Lipscomb: seniors Chris Kachmar and Tevin Symonette
Jacksonville: Julylia and senior Angel Camacho
Liberty: Embry, senior Evan Brabrand and sophomore Will Wagner
Kennesaw State: senior Jake Franklin and juniors Terence Norman and Justin Russell
A-SUN All-Conference Second Team:
For the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team, four Eagles were named: senior Keith Stevens and Jay Hayes and junior Alex Brait and Hunter McGarry.
A double transfer from FAMU and Hillsborough Community College (HCC) (NJCAA), Stevens, who was named FGCU's Scholar-Athlete of the Month, is currently batting .345 with three home runs and 28 RBI. In fact, in conference play, Stevens is batting .411 with 15 RBI. Against Liberty, the Miami native was 6-for-10 with two RBI.
Hayes earned his first accolade with the Eagles as he led the team with nine home runs and 47 RBI. Against Liberty, Hayes was 3-for-11 with a home run and three RBI.
Brait is batting .328 with four home runs and 30 RBI. He leads the conference with 75 hits and is a perfect 10-10 on stolen bases this season. He has caught 24 runners stealing throughout his career, including 11 this season, which is good for fifth all-time in the Eagle record book. He leads the team this season with 22 multi-hit games and is currently on a 10-game hitting streak. Brait was 5-for-13 against Liberty with a home run and two RBI.
McGarry, a Bradenton native and transfer from State College of Florida (SCF) (NJCAA), is 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA, 41 strikeouts and nine saves, which ties for second on the single season record list and ties for fifth on the career records list. Against Liberty, McGarry threw 3.2 innings in two games with six strikeouts.
Other members that joined the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team are as listed:
UNF: senior Nick Marchese and junior David Maberry
NJIT: sophomore Julio Marcano
Jacksonville: senior John Cassala and juniors Zach Byrant and Scott Dubrule
Liberty: junior Andrew McInvale,
Kennesaw State: sophomore Tyler Simon
Stetson: senior Jacob Koos
A-SUN All-Freshman Team:
Freshman Joe Kinker was named the lone member of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team. Kinker has appeared in every game for FGCU this season and started all but one. The Venice native is batting .318 with seven home runs and 38 RBI. Kinker was 4-for-10 against Liberty with a home run.
Other members that joined the A-SUN All-Freshman Team are as listed:
Lipscomb: Tyler Guilfoil
Jacksonville: Nick Love,
Liberty: Joseph Adametz, Gray Betts and Jaylen Guy
Kennesaw State: Tyler Tolve and Jared Rine
NJIT: Brett Helmkamp
Stetson: Paret, Danny Garcia, Noah Dickerson and Mark Townsend
A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
For the A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year, UNF's Murphy earned the award. Murphy, who was named a member of the A-SUN All-Conference First Team, is batting .297 with six home runs and 35 RBI while holding a 3.90 GPA
A-SUN All-Academic Team:
Along with Stevens, who had a 3.68 GPA, senior Kohl Gilmore was named a member of the A-SUN All-Academic Team. Gilmore is currently batting .278 with four home runs and 41 RBI while maintaining a 3.68 GPA. Against Liberty, Gilmore was 2-for-10 with three RBI.
Other members that joined the A-SUN All-Academic Team are as listed with their GPA:
UNF: Murphy (3.90)
Jacksonville: Camacho (3.58) and senior Reagan Wright (3.81),
Liberty: Embry (3.58)
Kennesaw State: sophomore Monty Horn (4.0)
NJIT: senior Sean Lubreski (4.0) and Marcano (3.67)
North Alabama: junior Bryant Claunch (3.64) and senior Josh Stillman (3.93)
Stetson: sophomore Chris Gonzalez (3.86) and junior Andrew MacNeil (4.0)
Scouting Stetson:
Stetson clinched its spot in the A-SUN Tournament after taking two-of-three from UNF at Melching Field last weekend. The Hatters were on the bubble of making the postseason entering the final weekend of regular season play. After winning the 2018 AS-UN Championship and advancing to a Super Regional, the Hatters were at the top of the preseason conference poll.
Senior Vlad Nunez leads the conference with 12 saves this season. He owns a 3.30 ERA through 43.2 innings of work. Freshman Daniel Paret leads the Hatters' pitching staff with a 3.47 ERA. The southpaw has 97 Ks on the season, the second-most in the league.
Senior Jacob Koos paces the Hatters with a .274 batting average. The outfielder has scored a team-high 32 runs and leads the team with 18 stolen bases.
Junior Jorge Arenas has cranked out a team-high 17 extra-base hits and has driven in 37 runs. The shortstop also leads the defense with 122 assists.
The Hatters own a 19-14 mark at Melching Field this season.
Series History:
The Hatters claimed the series against the Green and Blue at their home ballpark in DeLand earlier this month. In the opening game of the series, Stetson defeated the Eagles 2-1. The reigning A-SUN Champions earned a 5-3 triumph during game two. The third game was cancelled due to weather.
With the pair of wins, the Hatters have now won the last six meetings between the two teams. FGCU still holds an 18-17 advantage in the history between the programs, which includes an 11-9 mark at Melching Field.
The Eagles own a 2-1 edge over the Hatters in head to head championship play.
How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for all the games in the tournament and will air on ESPN+. Fans can also keep up to date on Twitter: @FGCU_Baseball
ESPN+:
The A-SUN will air on the new, subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, which will be the new home for select FGCU and A-SUN games and event broadcasts. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards or can pay $39.99 per-year based on the viewers subscription choice.
Livestats Link: https://statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=790
ESPN+ Link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/725e567f-d574-4a22-8c86-f28e8d286982/asun-baseball-tournament
Livestats Link: https://statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=790
ESPN+ Link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/725e567f-d574-4a22-8c86-f28e8d286982/asun-baseball-tournament
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