FORT MYERS, Fla.— The LIU Brooklyn baseball team makes the trip down south to open up 10-day road swing beginning with matchups against Florida Gulf Coast and University of Georgia. The Blackbirds meet the Eagles for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, February 22 before making a stop up to Athens, Georgia to take on the Bulldogs for a mid-week matchup on Tuesday, March 26.
This week features a pair of first time meetings for LIU against both the Eagles and Bulldogs.
SCOUTING THE BLACKBIRDS
LIU is coming off its opening series at Lamar University to start the 2019 season. Senior Andrew Smith led the Blackbirds offensively against the Cardinals, batting .333 with four hits, three RBI and a pair of stolen bases. He has reached base safely in 14 straight games dating back to last season. Junior Tim Bechtold recorded a home run and .500 slugging percentage in his first series as a Blackbird. Junior Jackson Svete pitched, six innings allowing just one run in a no decision for the opening game of Saturday's twinbill against Lamar. Rookies Nick Torres and Alec Huertas came on strong in relief for LIU, registering scoreless three-inning outings in their first collegiate action this past weekend.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
FGCU enters the second week of the season at 2-2 after splitting taking two of three from Bethune-Cookman and falling to Big 10 opponent, Ohio State. The Eagles were pegged to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll earlier this month. Jay Hayes has stood out for the FGCU offense through the first four games with three home runs, six runs scored and nine RBI to go along with a .455 batting average in the first four games. Preseason All-ASUN backstop Alex Brait leads the Eagles with seven runs scored and six hits on the season.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Georgia is currently ranked ninth in the nation in the latest D1Baseball.com Top-25 poll, starting the season 3-0. Like LIU, Georgia is coming off an NCAA Regional appearance a season ago, finishing the 2018 season 39-21. Riley King was Georgia's top-hitter after an opening weekend sweep over Dayton, batting .636 with seven hits, a home run and six RBI's. Two-way standout Aaron Schunk was a preseason All-SEC selection at third base (first-team) and utility player (second-team) for the Bulldogs. He was selected as a finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award last season after registering a 2.57 ERA and eight saves on the mound and batting .304 with 11 doubles and 36 RBI last year.
ON DECK
The Blackbirds close out the trip down south with a three-game set at East Tennessee State University beginning Friday, March 1.