New Orleans, LA- FGCU begins the season on the road for a three game series in New Orleans, Friday night vs Tulane University from Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
Overview:
Tulane plays in the American Conference and is led by Head Coach Travis Jewett, who is in his 4th season leading the Green Wave. Tulane finished 32-26 last season finishing in 3rd place in the American. The team lost seven players from last season’s team to either the MLB draft or free agency. There are 16 new players on the team with 10 of those new faces being JUCO players.
Players To Watch For:
6’2 SO OF Hudson Haskin
6’1 R-SR INF Grant Matthews
6’0 JR C Frankie Niemann
Breakdown (Hudson Haskin):
Hudson batted .372/10 HR/52 RBI last season and played in 56 of Tulane’s 58 games as a true freshman. His accolades include being named to the 2019 All-American Athletic Conference Second Team, 2019 Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American Team, 2019 NCBWA Freshman All-America First Team 2019 All-LSWA First Team, 2019 LSWA Freshman of the Year, 2019 D1 Baseball Freshman All-America First Team, and 2019 Baseball America All-America Second Team.
Breakdown (Grant Matthews):
Grant hit .319/10 HR/55 RBI and played in every game except one as a Redshirt Junior. He spent time playing in the outfield and as the Designated Hitter. His accolades include 2019 All-LSWA Honorable Mention.
Breakdown (Frankie Niemann):
Frankie hit .318/4 HR/36 RBI last season as a Sophomore. He played in 47 games and started 39 primarily at Catcher. His accolades include being named to the 2019 All-American Athletic Conference Second Team.
Pitchers To Watch For:
6’8 SR RHP Keegan Gillies 2-5/7.92 ERA/ 61 K’s
-Appeared in 15 games and started 14 games for Tulane as a Junior.
6’4 RS-SR RHP Trent Johnson 2-0/5.01 ERA/28 K’s
-Appeared in 21 games with 2 starts last season in his RS-JR season
6’5 JR LHP Justin Campbell 1-3/4.56 ERA/47 K’S
-Tied for 5th all time in appearances in a season (32 appearances last season as a Sophomore)
Tulane lost their top 2 starting pitchers in offseason Kaleb Roper and Chase Solesky who combined for 28 starts. Kaleb was 7-4 with a 4.60 ERA and Chase was 6-4 with a 5.13 ERA.
Prediction:
Coach Dave Tollett will earn his 600th career win this weekend and FGCU will win the series this weekend vs Tulane.
Eagles Nest Cast 