LakePoint, Ga. – ASUN Conference Baseball continues into week two of conference play this Friday, along with seven midweek games scheduled the coming Tuesday and Wendesday. Stetson is fresh off a series sweep of NJIT, while Jacksonville, North Florida and Lipscomb look to build off their own series wins.
The Hatters enter week two as the only undefeated team in ASUN play, hosting the No. 9 FGCU Eagles in DeLand. The sides are meeting for the first time since last year’s ASUN Championship Final, where Stetson emerged victorious for its first title in a decade. The Eagles are currently on a four game skid, while the Hatters are hoping a midweek ‘no contest’ decision against No. 7 Florida and a loss to UCF doesn’t derail the club’s success in the ASUN season thus far.
Lipscomb will look to its Friday and Saturday starters Brady Puckett and Jeffrey Passantino to help stymie a heavy hitting North Florida offense. Both programs are entering this weekend’s action after taking losses on Wednesday, while North Florida is looking for its 21st win of the season.
Possibly the hottest hitting team in the conference, Jacksonville will play at NJIT after scoring 24 runs against Bethune-Cookman this past Wednesday. The Dolphins’ run total was the most they’ve scored in 15 years as they’ve totaled 39 runs in their past three games. The Highlanders will be playing in their first home game of the season, and will be searching for its first conference win since dropping USC Upstate in April of 2016.
USC Upstate took the weekend finale against Lipscomb this past week as the Spartans prepare for their first road series of the year. Upstate will play the visitors role for just the third time this year, competing at Kennesaw State. KSU will look to take advantage of its players’ ability to hit the long ball, as they meet an aggressive Spartan pitching staff.
All three of Kennesaw State’s games against USC Upstate can be caught on ASUN.TV, while Stetson will have ESPN3 coverage for the second consecutive week, hosting FGCU. Lipsomb’s opener and finale with UNF will also be dispayed on ESPN3, as the Eagles get the same broadcast service in their midweek game versus Miami (Fla.).
Friday, April 7th Schedule
USC Upstate at Kennesaw State – 6 PM (ASUN.TV)
Jacksonville at NJIT – 6 PM
No. 9 FGCU at Stetson – 6:30 PM (ESPN3)
North Florida at Lipscomb – 6 PM CT (ESPN3)
Saturday, April 8th Schedule
Jacksonville at NJIT – 1 PM
No. 9 FGCU at Stetson – 2 PM (ESPN3)
USC Upstate at Kennesaw State – 2 PM (ASUN.TV)
North Florida at Lipscomb – 2 PM CT
Sunday, April 9th Schedule
Jacksonville at NJIT – 12 PM
USC Upstate at Kennesaw State – 1 PM (ASUN.TV)
No. 9 FGCU at Stetson – 1 PM (ESPN3)
North Florida at Lipscomb – 1 PM CT (ESPN3)
Tuesday, April 11th Schedule
North Florida vs. Florida A&M – 5 PM (YouTube)
Kennesaw State at Ga. Souithern – 6 PM
USC Upstate at Furman – 6 PM
Stetson vs. USF – 6:30 PM (ESPN3)
Lipscomb vs. Western Kentucky – 6 PM CT
Jacksonville vs. Savannah State – 7 PM
Tuesday, April 12th Schedule
No. 9 FGCU at Miami, Fla. – 6 PM (ESPN3)
No. 9 FGCU: 24-7 (1-2)
- No. 9 FGCU has issued an ASUN-low 78 walks over 31 games this season, nearly 50 less than the Stetson side it will see this weekend. The team’s average of 2.55 BB/9 ranks seventh in Division I Baseball.
-
Nick Rivera became the program leader in career RBIs after driving in four this past week at No. 22 Florida State. Rivera’s 32 long balls in his career, put him nine away from tying an Eagles record in career homers.
-
Sterling Koerner’s 16 career saves are a school record, as he is just one away from beating the FGCU single-season best. If he records two saves this weekend he will move into a tie for 26th in the ASUN all-time.
-
Corey Fehribach’s on-base streak of 21 games came to an end this past week against Jacksonville. The senior has a season OBP of .364, but sees that numbe fly up to .377 when the Eagles are victorious.
-
Kutter Crawford’s presently ranks third in the ASUN and 19th in the country with an average of 12.72 strikeouts per nine innings. He also has the lowest ERA among ASUN starters with an ERA of 1.04.
-
Julio Gonzalez is on a nine-game hitting streak, and was just a home run shy of his second cycle of the year, against Florida State earlier this week. Gonzalez has hit at a clip of .400 during the previous nine games (14-for-35), while drawing eight bases on balls.
-
The Eagles enter the week on a four-game skid, losing their first series of the year in the opening season of conference play. FGCU is 19-11 against Stetson all time, but just 4-4 over the last two years.
Jacksonville: 15-16 (2-1)
- Nate Koslowski’s six RBIs against Bethune-Cookman put him at a total of 29 for the year. The senior has hit 10-for-16 (.625) over the previous three contests, moving to a total of 17 multi-hit games in 2017.
-
Jacksonville 3.66 ERA is second in the ASUN, as the Dolphins hold six pitchers with sub-3.00 averages. JU owns a combined WHIP of 1.36, trailing only FGCU’s 1.23 for the best marker in the conference.
-
The Dolphins had one of their best offensive outputs of the past decade in their game with Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday. JU scored 24 runs for the first time since beating Northeaster Illinois 24-0 in 1991
-
Jacksonville’s run per game average jumped nearly a full run after the team routed the Wildcats on Wednesday. JU’s average coming into the contest sat at 4.87, but totaled 5.81 when the squad finished the night.
-
Batters’ ability to mitigate its walk to strikeout ratio has been one of the most decisive catalysts in Jacksonville’s win-loss column this year. The Dolphins hold a .87 ratio in victories but sees that number shoot down to .44 in losing decisions.
-
JU slugged .349 in the month of March and .615 through its first three games in April, after averaging just .290 in February. The Dolphins have hit 10 home runs in their previous 23 contests, in comparison to one in their first eight.
-
Jacksonville is batting .277 on the year, but sees that average rise to an ASUN best .333 when playing conference opponents.
Kennesaw State: 12-17 (1-2) -
With a pair of saves this year, Erich Stahl has moved to a total of 10 for his career. With two more this weekend, Stahl could move into second all-time for the Owls in their Division I history.
-
Kennesaw State leads the ASUN with 32 home runs, while Taylor Allum’s 11 remain first in the conference. Allum is tied for sixth in Division I baseball and his .722 slugging puts him in 17th place overall
-
Allum (.722) and Austin Upshaw (.555) have the highest slugging rate between two teammates in the ASUN. Allum leads the Owls with 28 RBIs, while Upshaw’s 23 are tied for fifth in the conference
-
Kennesaw State holds a conference-leading .477 slugging percentage on the year, and have registered extra base knocks in all but three of its contests in 2017. All three of those games ended in a loss for the Owls.
-
Seven KSU players are batting over .300, and the side is the only team in the ASUN with two freshman accomplishing that feat. Outfielder Terence Norman is hitting at a clip of .350 while Garrett Hodges holds a .313 average, Allum leads the Owl contingency with a .361
-
Taylor Allum has reached in his previous 23 outings, while teammate Grant Williams has hit in 14-straight games where he’s had an at-bat. Williams has hit .411 in that span with a single home run and nine RBIs.
-
The Owls host USC Upstate this week after losing its ASUN season opener series against UNF. KSU is 46-12 against the Spartans all time and have not lost a series to the group since 2010.
Lipscomb: 16-12 (2-1)
- Lipscomb’s 42 stolen bases and .79 success rate leads the ASUN in both categories. The Bisons’ six steals against Evansville ltwo weeks ago are a single game-high for the conference. The Bisons have swiped 10 bags in their previous five contests, and were caught just three times.
-
Lipscomb’s 150 bases on balls trails only FGCU’s 153 for an ASUN lead Michael Gigliotti (27), Cade Sorrells (22), Zeke Dodson (19) and Lee Solomon (19) together account for 63 percent of the Bisons’ walks.
-
Head Coach Jeff Forehand tallied his 500th career win after Lipscomb won game one of its series with Evansville. The victory was the Bisons’ first against the Aces since Forehand’s first career Lipscomb win in 2007.
-
Right-handers Brady Puckett and Jeffrey Passantino have a combined ERA of 3.19. Lipscomb is 9-5 when Puckett or Passantino get the start but 7-7 when any other hurler takes the mound.
-
Sophomore Zeke Dodson is on a 12-game hit streak, slashing .404/.474/.596 in that span. He drove in six runs in the Bisons’ three game series at USC Upstate, without striking out a single time.
-
Lipscomb is 13-24 against North Florida all time and 3-6 against the Ospreys in Jacksonville over the last six years.
-
Before a pair of long balls in Spartanburg this last weekend, Lipscomb had hit all of their home runs at home. Despite slugging .023 points higher at home, Lipscomb’s run production increases when playing visitor, as the club averages 5.17 at Dugan Field and 7.78 elsewhere.
NJIT: 3-22 (0-3)
-
Evan Pietronico’s .326 batting average and .442 slugging percentage leads all qualified Highlanders in 2017. The junior has 38 total bases this year, and is one of three NJIT players to go deep twice in 2017.
-
Sophomore Justin Etts has recorded a hit in 13 of his last 14 outings and has touched first in all but two of NJIT’s games. Etts holds a team-high 16 RBIs as he and Matt Cocciadiferro are the only players to compete in all 24 of the Highlander’s matchups this season.
-
NJIT has one of the most efficient defensive staffs in the ASUN. Its fielding rate of .966 is second only to North Florida’s .974, and the team’s average of 1.13 errors per game sits below the ASUN average of 1.40.
-
Etts, Pietronico and Bryan Haberstroh have all gone yard twice this year, and account for 34 of the Highlanders 76 RBIs (44.7%). Haberstroh’s 16 hits give the senior 133 for his career. With six more knocks this coming week, he will move into eighth on NJIT’s D-I record list.
-
Mike Anastasia hit in all three games NJIT played against Stetson last week. The sophomore is on a seven-game hitting streak and has averaged .370 with four doubles and seven RBIs during that span.
-
The Highlanders are the only squad in the ASUN that have seven players with multiple stolen bases. Jesse Uttendorfer leads the team with five stolen bags, while three more players have accrued three.
-
NJIT went 0-3 against Stetson the previous year, despite Etts’ three-RBI effort in game one and a three-hit weekend from Uttendorfer.
North Florida: 20-12 (2-1). -
North Florida’s .297 batting average and 211 runs scored both lead the ASUN, ranking 43rd and 34th in Division I Baseball respectively. Five of the top averages in the conference belong to Ospreys, as senior Patrick Ervin leads his squad at a clip of .350.
-
Matthew Naylor earned his fifth save of the year in last week’s finale against Kennesaw State. Naylor now has eight saves in his career, tying Josh Papelbon for the third most in North Florida D-I program history.
-
Yahir Gurrola currently leads the conference in RBIs (30), doubles (11) and total bases (81). The outfielder drove in five runs while registering a knock in all three of UNF’s games against Kennesaw State, on the way to retrieving his sixth home run of the year in the series finale.
-
Gurrola is tied for fourth in runs scored (38) and 10th in hits (34) in Division I Baseball, while leading the ASUN in both categories.
-
Sophomore Chris Berry has gotten on base at an ASUN best .455 this season. Berry has reached safely in 19-consecutive games.
-
Brad Depperman tossed a career-high 7.1 innings against Kennesaw State last week. The righty earned his second consecutive win while keeping the Owls to just two runs. Depperman has struckout 11 while issuing just a single walk in his previous two starts.
-
North Florida leads the ASUN with a .974 fielding percentage, and averages a conference-low .96 errors per nine innings. The Ospreys have been perfect in 14 games this year, and have turned 17 double plays.
USC Upstate: 14-17 (1-2) -
USC Upstate is tied for seventh in Division I Baseball with 14 triples in 2017, while FGCU holds the next most in the ASUN with 10. Five Spartans have multiple three-baggers on the year. Russel Schwertfeger’s four are a conference best and are tied forr 11th in D-I baseball.
-
Charlie Carpenter was riding a 27 game on-base streak, dating back to last year, before game two of Upstate’s series with Lipscomb. The backstop leads the Spartans with 6 HR, 27 RBI, a .350 BA and .451 OBP.
-
J.J. Shimko hit his first home run of the season against the Bisons and is riding an eight game hit streak. The junior leads USC Upstate with 24 walks this season, placing him fourth overall in the conference.
-
Upstate has earned more walk-off wins than any other member of the ASUN with four. The Spartans walked off twice in the span of four days three weeks ago, beating Presbyterian 5-3 and Quinnipiac 5-4.
-
Five Spartan pitchers are averaging over 10 strikeouts per nine innings, with Eric Birklund holding a team-high 13.78.
-
USC Upstate dropped 16 runs in their series finale with Lipscomb, as all nine starters recorded a hit. Carpenter went just a triple shy of the cycle in that game, on the way to recording a career-high five hits, the most any ASUN player has had in a single game this year.
-
The Spartan pitching staff has surrendered three or fewer walks in 13 games this year. Upstate was 7-5 in the month of March when drawing more walks than they give up, but 2-6 when the scenario was reversed.
Stetson: 13-18 (3-0) -
Stetson has struck out more batters than any other squad in the ASUN with a total of 310, nearly 30 ahead of second place FGCU (282). Brooks Wilson leads the conference with 72 Ks, tying for second in D-I baseball.
-
Three Hatters rank in the top-10 of the ASUN in K/9; Wilson sits first (13.32), Logan Gilbert stands sixth (11.60) and Jack Perkins is 10th (9.83)
-
Jack Gonzalez’ eight RBIs against NJIT ties for first in the ASUN against conference opponents. The sophomore drove in a career-high six runs in game one, on the way to hitting his first triple of the season.
-
Stetson put up 10 runs in the first five innings of its game against No. 7 Florida before a lightning warning put the game into delay. The Gators refused to reschedule the matchup, taking the season series 1-0.
-
The Hatters are 11-19 against FGCU all-time but won the last series the two teams played in DeLand two games to one (2015). Stetson was victorious in its last meeting with the Eagles, beating the No. 5 seed in the finals for its first ASUN Championship since 2006.
-
Freshman Ben Rowdon is on a four-game hit streak, and has recorded a knock in seven of his last eight performances. The shortstop is averaging .414 since game one of Stetson’s series with Tulane on March 24th.
-
Austin Hale has gunned down an ASUN-high 11 runners in 2017, catching base runners at a clip of .423. His average is first among conference backstops with at least 20 games played. As a team the Hatters’ .295 RCS% is second only to USC Upstate (.348) for a conference best.
