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West Georgia Baseball Hosts FGCU in ASUN Series

4/1/2026 12:37:00 PM

By: Danny Talbert
CARROLLTON, Ga. - West Georgia baseball stays home to host Florida Gulf Coast in a three-game conference series spanning this Thursday through Saturday at Cole Field. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6 p.m. 

With both teams coming off tough midweek losses, West Georgia (8-21, 5-4 ASUN) and FGCU (19-9, 5-3 ASUN) are set to duke it out on the diamond for the No. two spot in the ASUN Graphite Division rankings this weekend. 

Interestingly, UWG and FGCU secured series sweeps at each other's places last season, resulting in a 3-3 all-time head-to-head record. 

Looking at the teams' pitching, the Wolves post a league-worst 8.80 team ERA, while the Eagles lead the ASUN with a 4.93 combined ERA. 

Sophomore righty Maverick Torres is expected to open the series for the sixth straight week. In 10 appearances across six starts, Torres posts a 1-4 record, 24 strikeouts and a 7.48 ERA. Three weeks ago, Torres earned his first college win, holding Jacksonville to two earned runs while punching out five batters in his six frames on the mound. Torres has now struck out five batters in three consecutive games.

UWG and ASUN ERA leader Lex Kenny is expected to start in game two. In eight appearances, Kenny has pitched in a team-high 41 frames, posting a 2.41 ERA with 26 strikeouts. Kenny has now won four straight on the mound, resulting in a 4-1 record. In his last start, Kenny struck out a career-high seven batters while conceding one earned run in six innings.

Redshirt senior Luke Ridley will probably close out the series for the fourth consecutive week. In six starts, Ridley has recorded a 1-1 record, 7.09 ERA and 24 strikeouts. One of Ridley's strongest performances of the season came against Wichita State. In 5.2 innings, Ridley held the Shockers to one earned run and struck out two batters. Ridley is the only UWG pitcher to record seven strikeouts in two separate games.

FGCU has not announced their starting rotation, but going off past game logs, UWG should expect to see junior righty Evan Dempsey at some point this weekend. In seven starts, Dempsey posts a 3-0 record, a team-best (second in ASUN) 2.89 ERA, and a team-best 64 strikeouts. This strikeout total leads the ASUN and ranks fifth nationally. The 2025 First Team All-American and 2025 John Olerud National Two-Way Player of the Year was also recently named the sixth-best starting pitcher in the nation by DIBaseball. Dempsey will also bat for the Eagles. He currently ranks second in the ASUN and on the team with a .393 batting average.

Redshirt sophomore Hunter Possehl is another Eagle pitcher UWG will likely face this weekend. Through seven appearances, the lefty posts a tenth-lowest ERA in the ASUN (4.82 ERA), 37 strikeouts and a 1-0 record. Against Queens two weekends ago, Possehl prevented the Royals from scoring and struck out eight batters through five frames on the mound. 

Moving to the batter's box, UWG posts a .253 team batting average while averaging 5.17 runs per game. FGCU leads the ASUN with a .340 team batting average while averaging 7.79 runs per game. 

Third baseman Patrick McCullough continues to lead the Wolves in batting average (.364), OPS (.945), hits (43), runs (22) and triples (two). McCullough opened the latest ASUN series recording back-to-back multi-hit performances, bringing his season total to a team-high 12. 

Another Wolf who put together a solid weekend at the plate in North Carolina is first baseman Fano Cruz. Recording a hit in both games he played in, Cruz capped off the road series recording a grand slam and home run in the finale. He became the first UWG player to knock two out of the park in the same game since Carter Dierdorf achieved this feat last year. 

McCullough and Cruz have each reached base in double-digit consecutive games, with the former extending his streak to 11 and the latter pushing to ten in the latest midweek.

Looking at FGCU, the Eagles post the top-three batting averages and the fifth-best batting average in the ASUN. Leading the team and the ASUN with a .432 batting average is third baseman Javier Gorostola. The redshirt sophomore also leads the Eagles in hits (51), OPS (1.186) and on-base percentage (.500). 

Behind Gorostola and Dempsey, ranking third in the ASUN in batting average with a .384 average is catcher Jon Embury. The sophomore currently leads the Eagles and the ASUN in RBIs (42), runs (34), homers (10) and slugging percentage (.720).

The battle for the No. two spot in the ASUN Graphite Division starts on Thursday at Cole Field. Games one and three are streaming live on the UWG Athletics website. All live coverage links are tagged on the baseball schedule.


 
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