FGCU Baseball vs Liberty Preview

The FGCU baseball team (32-18, 14-6 A-SUN) will close out the regular season at home as they welcome A-SUN newcomer Liberty (35-16, 14-7) to Swanson Stadium from May 16-18. On May 16 and 17, first pitch is at 6:30 pm while for the 18th, it will be at 1 pm with a delay for senior day.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles wrapped up their last conference road trip against NJIT where they took the series 2-1, losing the first game (8-4) before winning the second and the rubber game (6-1, 4-3) to claim the season.

ASUN Standings:
1. FGCU (32-18, 14-6 A-SUN) *
2. Liberty (36-16, 14-7 A-SUN) *
3. Jacksonville (29-23, 12-9 A-SUN) *
4. UNF (30-21, 11-9 A-SUN)
5. Lipscomb (27-23, 11-10 A-SUN)
6. Stetson (22-29, 9-11 A-SUN)
7. Kennesaw State (25-28, 9-12 A-SUN)
8. North Alabama (16-35, 7-13 A-SUN)
9. NJIT (17-27-1, 7-17 A-SUN)
* - Clinched a spot in A-SUN Championship

What's at Stake:
For this series, the Eagles need to win at least two out of three games to win at least a share of the A-SUN Regular Season Championship. If they sweep Liberty, then they will be named A-SUN Regular Season Champions for the first time since 2014. In addition, the Eagles would also be the #1 seed in the Suncoast Conference Tournament and earn a first round bye.

Senior Sound Off:
For the final regular season game, the Eagles will recognize their six seniors: Justin Gill, Kohl Gilmore, Eric Gonzalez, Evan Lumbert, Keith Stevens and Jay Hayes. Gill, Gilmore, Gonzalez, Lumbert and Stevens all came to FGCU as transfers with Gonzalez and Stevens being double transfers. They will be recognized prior to the first pitch.

Justin Gill:
A native of Winter Haven, Florida, Gill joined FGCU fall 2017 as a junior after spending his first two seasons at Polk State College (NJCAA). There, Gill produced a 6-5 overall record with a 87 career strikeouts with the Eagles while earning a spot on the All-Suncoast First Team as a sophomore.

Gill was 1-3 his junior with FGCU with a 3.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts and is currently 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA and 39 strikeouts. In his last game against NJIT, Gill threw five innings with four strikeouts.

Kohl Gilmore:
Gilmore, a native of Fort Pierce, joined FGCU fall 2017 after playing only one season at Indian River State (NJCAA). While at IRS, Gilmore batted .364 with eight home runs and 42 RBI in 42 games.

Upon arrival to FGCU his junior year, Gilmore became an immediate impact as he batted .282 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI. As a result, Gilmore was named a member of the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team.

Currently, Gilmore is batting .279 with four home runs and 37 RBI. In his last series against NJIT, Gilmore was 4-for-12 with four RBI.

Eric Gonzalez:
Coming from Miami, Gonzalez joined FGCU fall 2017 as a double JUCO transfer after spending his freshman year at Palm Beach State (NJCAA) before transferring to ASA Miami (NJCAA) for his sophomore year.

At PBSC, Gonzalez played in 10 games batting .333 with two RBI before transferring to ASA Miami. After sitting out the 2015-16 season per the NJCAA transfer rule, Gonzalez finished the 2016-17 season batting .277 with 16 RBI and 32 stolen bases before transferring to FGCU. Gonzalez ended his junior campaign with the Eagles batting .242 with five home runs and 20 RBI.

Currently, Gonzalez is batting .292 with 50 hits, four home runs, 30 RBI and a .949 fielding percentage. Against NJIT, Gonzalez was 4-for-14 with three runs scored.

Evan Lumbert:
One of the main starting pitchers for the Eagles, Lumbert joined FGCU fall 2017 after spending his first two seasons at South Florida State (NJCAA). There, the Orlando native made 29 appearances on the mound with a 3-4 career record and 107 career strikeouts before transferring to FGCU.

As a junior at FGCU, Lumbert went 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 14 appearances (10 starts). Currently, Lumbert is 5-2 with a 3.64 ERA and 57 strikeouts. In his last start against NJIT, Lumbert pitched 8.1 innings with three strikeouts.

Keith Stevens:
Stevens joined FGCU fall 2017 after spending his freshman year at Florida A&M (FAMU) before transferring his sophomore year to Hillsborough Community College (HCC) (NJCAA).

At FAMU, the Miami native batted .083 with two runs scored in 16 games before transferring to HCC his sophomore year. At HCC, Stevens ranked second on the team with a .345 average, two home runs and 36 RBI before transferring to FGCU for his junior year, despite batting only .100 with three runs scored.

Currently, Steven has improved drastically and is currently batting a team-leading .329 with two home runs and 26 RBI. He was recently named A-SUN Player of the Week for his performance against NJIT where he went 7-for-14 with five RBI.

"We're extremely happy for Keith and we know how hard he's been working," head coach Dave Tollett said. "He's been paying attention during film and taking his preparation very seriously. It's been paying off for him because he's been performing well each weekend."

Jay Hayes:
Out of all the seniors, Hayes is the only one that has played for the Eagles all four years.

After beginning his freshman year redshirting to maintain all four years, Hayes opened the season as a redshirt freshman batting .222 with a home run and 11 RBI.

After being removed from the team for the 2017 season due to disciplinary reasons, Hayes was reinstated and increased his hitting as he batted .279 with four home runs and 32 RBI.

Currently, the Altamonte Springs native leads the team with a .322 batting average, a team-leading eight home runs and 42 RBI. In his last series against NJIT, Hayes was 3-for-9 with two RBI.

Meet the Other Eagles:
Along with the seniors, key players for the Eagles include juniors Richie Garcia, Alex Brait, Mason Studstill and Hunter McGarry and freshmen Joe Kinker and Jalen Townsend.

Garcia is batting .295 with four home runs, 25 RBI and a .935 fielding percentage. Garcia was 3-for-13 with two doubles against NJIT.

Brait is batting .324 with three home runs and 28 RBI. Brait was 4-for-13 with an RBI against NJIT.

Studstill has been a main work force on the mound. The Titusville native is 5-2 with a 2.00 ERA and 91 strikeouts (10.7 strikeouts per game). Studstill did lose in his last start against NJIT where he threw three innings and struck out one batter.

McGarry, who took over as the closer, is 6-1 with a 2.11 ERA, 35 strikeouts and eight saves. In his last game, McGarry threw four scoreless and hitless innings with five strikeouts against NJIT.

Kinker is batting .313 with six home runs and 36 RBI. Kinker was 3-for-10 with two RBI against NJIT.

Mainly as a pinch runner, Townsend has earned some more playing time as we speak. Townsend is batting .222 with seven RBI and 10 stolen bases. Townsend was 3-for-8 with an RBI against NJIT.

Scouting Liberty:
The Flames are coming off of taking two-of-three against Lipscomb in an A-SUN conference series last weekend. The Flames dropped Friday night's game 9-1, but claimed back-to-back 5-3, 11-0 victories to win the series. The Flames enter the weekend with just one conference sweep under their belt (vs. UNF March 29-31) and a split 3-3 record in A-SUN road games.

The Liberty pitching staff is one of the best in the nation. The team ERA of 3.35 leads the league and checks in at 10th in the national standings. The Flames have combined for seven shutouts, the fourth-most of any staff in the nation, and allow an average of 7.58 hits per nine innings, which checks in at 16th in the national ranks. Redshirt senior Evan Brabrand ranks as one of the nation's top closers. He has picked up 10 saves this season, the most of any A-SUN arm, and sits at 24th in the national standings.

Sophomore Will Wagner leads the team with a .326 batting average and has started all but one game for the Flames. The infielder has cranked out 19 extra-base hits. Redshirt-junior Jonathan Embry has been credited with a team-high 100 total bases, which is good for second in the league. He is the only player that has played in all 52 of Liberty's games this season. Freshman Jaylen Guy has established himself as a threat on the base path. The rookie has stolen 11 bags and only been thrown out once.

Expected Starters:
Game One- Studstill vs Andrew McInvale (8-2, 3.04 ERA)
Game Two- Gill vs Joseph Adametz (6-2, 3.84 ERA)
Game Three- Lumbert vs Noah Skirrow (4-5, 3.54 ERA)

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for all three games and will air on FGCU's YouTube page.

Livestats Links:
Game One- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=252517
Game Two- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=252518
Game Three- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=252519

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1ISjt5aVZZLdGCQqVAPGw?view_as=subscriber