FGCU baseball ace Michael Murray has been named to the 2014 College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year Award watch list in recognition of the stellar start he is off to in his sophomore campaign.
For a pitcher, there’s not much better than zeros, and several of the 47 pitchers on the first watch list for the 2014 Pitcher of the Year Award feature that magic number in their statistical lines.
Murray (West Palm Beach, Fla./Forrest Hill HS) leads the Atlantic Sun with a 1.18 ERA in 83.2 innings on the hill. He has compiled a 10-0 record, making him just the second Eagle in program history to accomplish such a feat along with MLB All-Star and former National Player of the Year, Chris Sale, who holds the single-season FGCU wins record with 11. His 65 strikeouts also lead the A-Sun against 10 walks in 11 starts and his opponents are batting just .211 against him.
“Mike has been great for us,” head coach Dave Tollett added. “To be mentioned along with Chris Sale shows how hard he has worked to get to where he is at now. These nominations are going to keep coming and there is no one more deserving.”
The Pitcher of the Year Award, sponsored by Diamond, will be presented during the National College Baseball Hall of Fame’s annual Night of Champions on June 28 in Lubbock, Texas.
For more information on the Pitcher of the Year Award or the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Night of Champions, visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.
Pitcher of the Year Watch List:
| NAME | TEAM | CONFERENCE |
| Gage Smith | Florida State | ACC |
| Bryan Garcia | Miami | ACC |
| Nick Howard | Virginia | ACC |
| Nathan Kirby | Virginia | ACC |
| Nick Burdi | Louisville | American Athletic |
| Michael Murray | FGCU | Atlantic Sun |
| Brendan McCurry | Oklahoma State | Big 12 |
| Vince Wheeland | Oklahoma State | Big 12 |
| Brandon Finnegan | TCU | Big 12 |
| Nathan Thornhill | Texas | Big 12 |
| Josh Prevost | Seton Hall | Big East |
| Trey Lambert | Liberty | Big South |
| Ryan Thompson | Campbell | Big South |
| Casey Bloomquist | Cal Poly | Big West |
| Matt Imhof | Cal Poly | Big West |
| Thomas Eshelman | Cal State Fullerton | Big West |
| Sam Moore | UC Irvine | Big West |
| Andrew Morales | UC Irvine | Big West |
| Chase Mallard | Alabama-Birmingham | Conference USA |
| Brett Mabry | East Carolina | Conference USA |
| Ryan Williams | East Carolina | Conference USA |
| Mike Franco | Florida International | Conference USA |
| Christopher Mourelle | Florida International | Conference USA |
| Blake Fox | Rice | Conference USA |
| Kyle Freeland | Evansville | Missouri Valley |
| Michael Cederoth | San Diego State | Mountain West |
| Jeff Gold | Oregon | Pac-12 |
| Jace Fry | Oregon State | Pac-12 |
| Ben Wetzler | Oregon State | Pac-12 |
| David Berg | UCLA | Pac-12 |
| Tyler Davis | Washington | Pac-12 |
| Thomas Burrows | Alabama | SEC |
| Danny Young | Florida | SEC |
| Aaron Nola | LSU | SEC |
| Chris Ellis | Ole Miss | SEC |
| Christian Trent | Ole Miss | SEC |
| Joel Seddon | South Carolina | SEC |
| Jack Wynkoop | South Carolina | SEC |
| Andy Cox | Tennessee | SEC |
| Walker Buehler | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Andres Garcia | Samford | Southern |
| Carson Baranik | Louisiana Lafayette | Sun Belt |
| Ryan Wilson | Louisiana Lafayette | Sun Belt |
| Sam Street | UT-Pan American | WAC |
| Aaron Brown | Pepperdine | West Coast |
| Eric Karch | Pepperdine | West Coast |
| Corey Miller | Pepperdine | West Coast |
COVERAGE
Full coverage of each game including live stats and internet radio can be found at FGCUAthletics.com. If you can’t reach a computer, follow @FGCU_Baseball on Twitter or “like” FGCU Baseball on Facebook for daily news, photos and a constant stream of live updates during each game.
ATLANTIC SUN CHAMPIONSHIP
For the first time in program history, the FGCU baseball team will play host to the 2014 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship set to take place May 21-25 at Swanson Stadium. The top eight teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the championship and compete in a double-elimination style tournament to determine the A-Sun’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles are three-time A-Sun Regular Season Champions and finished second in the league last season.
TICKETS
Single-game tickets for FGCU Baseball are available at a cost of $6 for adults and $3 for children. Season tickets and tickets to the 2014 Atlantic Sun Championship are also available. For more information and additional deals, visit FGCUathletics.com/tickets, or call the ticket office at 239-590-7145.