Coming off the team’s first ever win in the NCAA Tournament, the FGCU baseball team was selected to finish second in the ASUN for the 2018 season according to the Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Eagles received 55 total votes with one first place vote, just eight points behind Stetson, who was predicted to win the conference. The reigning regular season champion, Jacksonville, was selected behind the Eagles with Kennesaw State and North Florida following.
FGCU also had a trio of players appear on the ASUN preseason All Conference Team in Gage Morey, Josh Dye and Kenton Herring.
Morey, one of the nation’s best defensive center fielders, is entering his final season with the Eagles. He appeared in 58 of the 60 games a season ago and batted .289 and a .412 OBP. He scored 45 runs including two homeruns, and was most well-known for his game-saving catch versus the eventual National Champions Florida Gators.
One of the Eagles strongest pitchers a season ago, the left-handed pitcher Dye led the teams in wins with 16 while pitching to a 3.23 ERA. In the ASUN tournament he pitched seven innings allowing just one earned run, and also pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of out of the bullpen in the championship game.
For Herring, he is the only relief pitcher to be selected as the redshirt senior took over the closer role midway through last year and pitched to a 1.96 ERA. Herring did not just pitch the ninth innings of games, he also routinely came out of the bullpen for multiple innings.
The Eagles return most of its team from last season that reached program heights, as the No. 9 team in the country, as well as sweeping the state of Florida with wins over Florida, Miami, USF and FAU.
They will kick of their season on Feb. 16 in double-header versus Eastern Michigan at Swanson Stadium for a four game series.