Baseball Opens 2023 Season at Home Against West Florida

The Florida Southern College baseball team will begin the 2023 season in a home series against the University of West Florida Feb. 4-5 at Henley Field. The Mocs will host the Argos in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., and a Sunday game at 1 p.m.
 
2023 Season Opener
Opponent – West Florida
Date – Feb. 4 at 1/4 p.m. DH, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.
Location – Henley Field
Live Stats - http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=sflo
Live Video - https://www.sunshinestateconference.tv/floridasouthern/
 
Last year, the Mocs finished the season 29-21 and 20-10 in the Sunshine State Conference that was just short of an NCAA Regional appearance. Florida Southern returns several great pitchers and many All-SSC team members. A season opener at home against the Argos in a rematch from last year's road trip where West Florida scraped by with a winning series. The Mocs begin the season 37^th in Division II according to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll and were picked to finish fifth in the SSC. The All-South region preseason poll has Florida Southern ninth.  
 
On what makes this team different from last year, head coach Lance Niekro '10 said: "We have filled areas on the plate or on the mound that we struggled in last year. We have a great group of guys that want to work hard and do what it takes to win. It is important for us to start strong. We have a tough schedule, so the first few weeks of the season will be a test. It is important for the guys, morale-wise, for us to start strong and mesh as a team. We are ready to get going; everyone has the aspirations that they can go win the World Series and everyone is on the same page."
 
The 2023 Team
Batters
Second in the conference in batting in the 2022 season, Florida Southern has a great history of hitting over the fence. As a team, they batted .274 and knocked in 287 runs during the year. Returning stars begin with Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Player to Watch and NCBWA All-South First Team member, Jeff Liquori. The junior earned an NCBWA All-South Honorable Mention honor at first base last year and was the leadoff batter before moving to the cleanup spot the last few weeks of the 2022 season. The Lake Mary, Fla. native earned his first All-SSC selection last week while leading first base for the Mocs the entire season. The conference leader in runs scored (53), Liquori was second in slugging percentage (.612), second in home runs (14), and fourth in the league in OPS (1.025). A leadoff hitter for most of the season, Liquori was moved to the number four slot to finish out the season with a .316 batting average and 34 RBI.
 
Another position returner is Nick Wells, who spent time in the outfield and DH last season. In his 23 starts, he went .208 and 12 runs. With seven multi-hit games, he had a two-homer game against Eckerd for a Moccasin win. Connor Berry returns as a key utility player that appeared in all 50 games during the season and 49 starts at 3B, 2B, OF, and DH. He had 25 runs in the year and 36 RBI. Jordan Gaynor and Grady Maguire both return as juniors that saw action at shortstop and second base during last season. Ahmad Fitts had 16 starts at DH and LF and had 17 RBI and six extra-base hits. Returning catcher for the Mocs is Julio Cortez, who had 20 starts and 17 hits on the year. Tilden Agee and Michael Balboni return to catch as well.
 
Florida Southern had a total of seven transfers to the team, including Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Newcomer to Watch, Mitch Donofrio. A transfer from SSC foe Eckerd College, Donofrio is an infielder with 12 home runs last year and a team-high .356 batting average. A key outfielder addition is El'Rico Riley from Jackson State where he started 54 in the outfield with a .303 batting average and 50 runs off 57 hits. D'Ante Starks, an outfielder from Indian River State joins the Mocs alongside Roshean Riley at third (Polk State), and Jevin Relaford at shortstop from Santa Fe. Another Division I transfer, Bryce Safferwich, came from James Madison University where he had five runs and six RBI.
 
A big addition behind the plate is Drew Cavanaugh, a sophomore from Eastern Florida State. A Gold Glove winner, Cavanaugh was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Southern Conference, All-Southern First Team, All-State Second Team, and NJCAA Division I Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Perfect behind the plates, he started 37 games and threw out 66 percent of runners, the best in the nation. Florida Southern also added two freshmen with infielder Brady Doorey from Morrisonville, N.Y., and Will Wilshire in the outfield from Fort Myers, Fla.
 
Pitchers
Returning starters for the Mocs include Nathan Madej and Aric McAtee, both named to the NCBWA Division II Preseason All-South Region Teams. A lefty from Lemont, Ill., Madej had a stellar season in 2022, winning several regional accolades by the end of the season. He set an SSC record for five conference Pitcher of the Week awards in a single season and was fourth-best in NCAA Division II in hits allowed per nine innings. Despite only 11 starts in the year, he had seven wins, one save, and just one loss with a 3.05 ERA at the end of the year.
 
McAtee emerged as a consistent starter for the Mocs, with a team-high 14 starts on the year and 62 strikeouts. The All-SSC and ABCA South All-Region Second Team winner went seven innings on three different occasions and finished with a 3.19 ERA. The Ohio native assisted on 17 outs from the mound and a team-high 12 pickoffs, half of the team's total.
 
Other Moccasin pitchers returning include Andrew Williamson, who appeared in eight games with two starts. Williamson set a team-high 11 strikeouts in just five innings of work in a 13-4 win over Kentucky Wesleyan last season. A great reliever for the Mocs, Collin Camarigg, appeared in 17 games with 28.2 innings pitched. Camarigg had 25 strikeouts in the year and got a big win against Eckerd in a 15-inning bout. Similarly, Mitchell LeRoy had 13 appearances and two starts during the year. He had a win and a save in the 31.1 innings pitched. Another returning pitcher included Christian Suarez who had 14 games as a reliever and finished with 17 strikeouts and a win against Kentucky Wesleyan last season. Bobby and Tommy Turkett, Austen Kessler, David Butz, Jake Curry, and Justin Wit round out returning pitchers.
 
Newcomers on Florida Southern's mound include Lake Fisher, a transfer from Bethune Cookman, Kerry Wright (Houston), and Jordan Fox (Eastern Kentucky). Freshman pitchers for the Mocs include Evan Mobley from Tampa, Fla.
 
While Madej and McAtee return as starters for the squad, depth from the bullpen is key for the Moccasin's success. Florida Southern finished third in the conference for pitching, with a 4.15 overall ERA and a .268 opposing batting average. After a dominant stretch halfway through the season, Mocs had a great end of the year that included big series wins over Rollins and Tampa.
 
With great depth on the roster, the start of the season will be key to solidifying starting positions and missing positions. On the battle of a large roster and such great talent on the field, Niekro said, "Production on the field can help determine the positions that we need to be filled. I like to see the grit and aggression of being on the field for our guys. A big strength on our team is the players being ready at all times and stepping up when called upon."
 
Coaching Staff
Coach Lance Niekro '10 returns to the Mocs for his 11^th year with a 268-182-1 overall record at the helm. An All-American standout for the Moccasins, Niekro was selected to the second round of the 2000 MLB draft and went on to play in nearly 200 games for the San Francisco Giants, along with time with the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.
 
Newly promoted to Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, Steven Crabtree returns for his seventh season. During his time with the Mocs, he has helped develop five NCBWA All-Americans, and 17 All-SSC hitters/position players. Returning for their second season will be pitching coach Ryan Block, and head JV coach/outfield coach John DiBenedetto.
 
On his coaching staff, Niekro said, "Steven is a great asset to our team, and I know I can rely on him to coach our team at any point. His promotion was much earned in his time with the Mocs. John and Ryan both had great coaching experience, which really helped us last year and will continue this season along with their contributions to developing our JV team."
 
2023 Florida Southern Baseball Home Schedule
Feb. 4 – 1/4 PM – vs University of West Florida (DH)
Feb. 5 – 1 PM – vs University of West Florida
Feb. 7 – 6 PM – vs Eckerd College
Feb. 28 – 6 PM – vs Florida Tech
March 3 – 5 PM – vs Assumption University
March 6 – 6 PM – vs Kentucky Wesleyan College
March 7 – 6 PM – vs Kentucky Wesleyan College
March 10 – 2 PM – vs Seton Hill University
March 13 – 6 PM – vs Indiana University-Pennsylvania
March 14 – 6 PM – vs Indiana University-Pennsylvania
March 15 – 6 PM – vs Indiana University-Pennsylvania
March 17 – 6 PM – vs University of Tampa
March 18 – 1/4 PM – vs University of Tampa (DH)
March 31 – 6 PM – vs Palm Beach Atlantic University
April 1 – 1/4 PM – vs Palm Beach Atlantic University (DH)
April 21 – 6 PM – vs Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
April 22 – 4 PM – vs Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
April 23 – 2 PM – vs Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
April 28 – 6 PM – vs Rollins College
April 29 – 2 PM – vs Rollins College
April 30 – 12 PM – vs Rollins College
May 7 – 1/4 PM – at Florida Tech (DH)
May 8 – 1 PM – at Florida Tech
May 12 – 6 PM – vs Barry University
May 13 – 1/4 – vs Barry University (DH)