Injuries and the departure of crucial pieces over the offseason turned the FGCU baseball team’s ASUN Regular Season Co-Champion defense into a fight to make the postseason. The Eagles hold a 14-21 record and a 6-9 conference record through 35 games.
Through all of the disarray, outfielder Evan Dempsey has stepped into the spotlight to compensate for the team’s lack of depth. He has shone in his seven games as a pitcher, earning the John Olerud Two-Way Player award from the College Baseball Hall of Fame for his performances against conference foes North Florida and Jacksonville.
“This season I spent some time developing pitching, and it’s been paying off,” Dempsey said. “Just going out there and doing my job helps me get out there more.”
Dempsey began playing baseball at eight years old in Tampa, where he grew up. He credits the late Rich Luppino, a local baseball coach based in the Bloomingdale area, for finding his love of baseball. However, it wasn’t until he reached Newsome High School that he honed his skills at the pitching position under coach Dick Rorhberg.
While playing at Newsome High School, Dempsey continued to develop his craft at the Ostingers Baseball Academy.
Over his three years at Newsome, he had a .444 on-base percentage, 91 hits, 33 RBIs, 60 runs and 20 stolen bases. On the mound, Dempsey held a record of 13-8. He pitched 101.1 innings with 142 strikeouts and only allowed 30 earned runs and 37 walks.
After all this success, Dempsey ranked 58th among players and 20th in the relief pitcher position. He took his talent to Southwest Florida, committing to FGCU on June 1, 2023.
“FGCU gave me a chance to be a two-way pitcher,” Dempsey said. “FGCU was my only offer, and I committed pretty quick. Once I did some research into the school, I knew this was where I wanted to go.”
In his first season with FGCU, the Tampa native visited the mound in six games in 5.1 innings for an ERA of 10.13 in a relief role. He played most of his first year in the outfield because of the Eagles’ depth in the pitching position.
He started 46 of 50 games last season because of his success behind the plate. In Dempsey’s 183 at-bats his freshman year, he hit a 339 batting average, which translated to 40 runs, 48 RBIs and 62 hits, seven of which were home runs.
It wasn’t until his sophomore year that he started the game as a pitcher. With injuries to pitchers Justin Henschel and Levent Eldem, this has thrown disarray into the lineup, forcing Dempsey into a more prominent role.
“It’s pretty tough thing to do,” FGCU baseball coach Dave Tollett said. “Half your time goes for pitching, and half your time goes for hitting. We only have so many hours a week that he can use, so we have to be pretty creative about his schedule, which is really different than anybody else’s on the team.”
Dempsey has started three games on the hill. He pitched 15 innings for 21 strikeouts and allowed 15 hits for four runs. He holds a 2-1 record, with 2-0 and 5-3 wins against North Florida and Jacksonville, respectively.
“His spin rate on his breaking balls, one of the best in the whole country, had around 3100 [revolutions per minute] it’s been as high as 3300 [revolutions per minute] which is very elite,” Tollett said. “I mean, it’s Major League guys don’t even have those type numbers. So, I mean, he’s pretty special in that area.”
While Dempsey hasn’t heard from any MLB teams yet, his MLB draft period begins at the end of his junior year at FGCU, if he doesn’t elect to stay another year. To get prepared for professional baseball, Dempsey has been playing Collegiate Summer baseball in the offseason.
Last year, he played in the Northwoods League with the Minot Hot Tots. This year, Dempsey will join the Cape Cod League defending champions, the Harwich Mariners, who won their sixth title against the Bourne Braves two games to one.
“I hope next year that I can put up more good numbers and get drafted,” Dempsey said. “ I mean, earning [the John Olerud Two-Way Player award] gives me a little bit of something to prove when I’m out there.”
