UC/FGCU PREVIEW

Fort Myers, FL- FGCU faces the University of Cincinnati for a four game series, starting Friday night from Swanson Stadium.

Series Schedule:

Friday: 6:30 PM

Saturday (DH): 1 PM/ 4:30 PM

Sunday: 11 AM

Pitching Matchups:

Fri: LHP Tristan Weaver vs RHP Jason Woodward

Sat Gm 1: RHP Garrett Harker vs LHP Daniel Batcher

Sat Gm 2: LHP Alex Shea vs RHP Tyler Shuck

Sun: RHP Aiden Bradbury vs RHP Darien Smith/ RHP Najer Victor

Stats (2021 Season):

UC Pitching:

29-26/5.97 ERA/1.57 WHIP/2 CG/2 SHO/9 SV/479.2 IP/486 H/350 R (318 ER)/438 K/266 BB/114 2B/8 3B/52 HR/1819 AB/.267 BAA

FGCU Pitching:

28-20/5.21 ERA/1.70 WHIP/2 SHO/11 SV/418.1 IP/485 H/294 R (242 ER)/342 K/225 BB/80 2B/10 3B/28 HR/1682 AB/.288 BAA

UC Hitting:

.286/.835 OPS/1928 AB/370 R/552 H/101 2B/15 3B/67 HR/333 RBI/.459 SLG%

FGCU Hitting:

.273/.798 OPS/1638 AB/312 R/447 H/85 2B/7 3B/46 HR/279 RBI/.418 SLG%

Hitters To Watch For (UC):

6’2 R-JR OF R/R Paul Komistek

(2021 season): .364/1.058 OPS/162 AB/32 R/59 H/11 2B/9 HR/44 RBI/.599 SLG%

6’0 SO OF R/R Cole Harting

(2021 season): .289/.894 OPS/211 AB/49 R/61 H/11 2B/3 3B/10 HR/34 RBI/.521 SLG%

6’2 R-JR INF R/R Griffin Merritt

(2021 season): .274/.873 OPS/190 AB/40 R/52 H/11 2B/3 3B/10 HR/38 RBI/.511 SLG%

Hitters To Watch For (FGCU):

6’2 R-JR OF L/R Brian Ellis

(2021 season): .361/.964 OPS/183 AB/45 R/66 H/8 2B/2 3B/3 HR/31 RBI/.475 SLG%

5’9 JR LHP/OF S/L Stephen Wilmer

(2021 season): .326/.995 OPS/129 AB/35 R/42 H/11 2B/3B/6 HR/24 RBI/.566 SLG%

6’3 JR 1B R/R Joe Kinker

(2021 season): .293/.909 OPS/181 AB/37 R/49 H/9 2B/13 HR/44 RBI/.536 SLG%

Pitchers To Watch For (UC):

6’2 R-JR RHP R/R Jackson Murphy

(2021 season): 1-1/3.21 ERA/1.57 WHIP/33.2 IP/33 H/21 R (12 ER)/30 K/20 BB/6 2B/2 3B/2 HR/123 AB/.268 BAA

6’0 R-SO RHP R/R Zach Segal

(2021 season): 5-4/5.14 ERA/1.46 WHIP/2 SV/CG/70.0 IP/74 H/41 R (40 ER)/44 K/28 BB/20 2B/2 3B/6 HR/266 AB/.278 BAA

6’0 SR RHP R/R Beau Keathley

(2021 season): 2-3/5.60 ERA/1.36 WHIP/35.1 IP/27 H/23 R (22 ER)/37 K/21 BB/8 2B/2 HR/124 AB/.218 BAA

Pitchers To Watch For (FGCU):

6’1 SO RHP R/R Jason Woodward

(2021 season): 3-2/3.65 ERA/1.32 WHIP/SV/37.0 IP/35 H/15 R (ALL ER)/39 K/15 BB/7 2B/3B/2 HR/141 AB/.241 BAA

6’1 JR RHP R/R Tyler Tipton

(2021 season): 4-1/3.71 ERA/1.44 WHIP/SV/43.2 IP/49 H/19 R (18 ER)/22 K/14 BB/9 2B/3B/3 HR/177 AB/.277 BAA

6’3 SR RHP R/R Tyler Shuck

(2021 season): 3-0/3.88 ERA/1.45 WHIP/SV/46.1 IP/50 H/25 R (17 ER)/38 K/17 BB/3 2B/2 3B/184 AB/.272 BAA

Overview:

FGCU’s season ended after being upset by Jacksonville University, last year in the ASUN Tournament Quarterfinals, and you know Coach Tollett, and company want to right the ship this season. The Eagles finished 28-20, 12-6 ASUN, and earned wins over two top 25 teams, in FSU and FAU. This year’s team has many new faces, but plenty of the same players, you have learned to love these past few seasons. Brian Ellis returns to FGCU as their best hitter batting average wise (.361), and one of the top lead off hitters in the ASUN Conference. The power department for FGCU goes through Joe Kinker, who hit 13 home runs as an Eagles this past season. D1 Baseball’s positional rankings included Brian Ellis (#43 OF), Stephen Wilmer (#105 OF), and Jason Woodward (#144 SP) for the Eagles.

The Bearcats went 29-26, 18-14 AAC this past season, playing in the American Athletic Conference. Their season ended with a loss to ECU in the second day of play in the AAC tournament. UC returns one of the top players in the conference, Paul Komistek, who hit .364 last season with 9 home runs, and 44 RBI’s. Paul earned First Team All- AAC honors, and was also named the 2022 ACC Preseason Player of the Year earlier this month. Head Coach Scott Googins, in his 5th season leading the Bearcats. He spent the past twelve seasons before getting to UC, as the head baseball coach for Xavier University. D1 Baseball’s AAC Conference preview announced the UC team had two top 10 prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft: Cole Harting (4), and Garrett Harker (4). UC also had multiple prospects ranked for the 2022 MLB Draft including: RHP Chase Hopewell (21), OF Paul Komistek (24), INF Ryan Nicholson (31), C Joe Powell (33), and OF Griffin Merritt (36). This series is an intriguing series to start the season, and we are excited to see how FGCU matches up with UC.