LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College baseball team will begin its quest for consecutive NCAA berths with the 2024 season opener this weekend on the road at the University of West Florida. The three-day series will begin on Feb. 2 at 6:00 p.m. EST at Jim Spooner Field in Pensacola.
2024 Season Opener
Opponent – No. 11 University of West Florida
Date – Feb. 2 at 6:00 p.m. | Feb. 3 at 2:00 p.m. | Feb. 4 at 1:00 p.m. *All times Eastern
Location – Jim Spooner Field | Pensacola, Fla.
Live Stats –
https://goargos.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video –
https://goargos.com/watch/?Archive=472&type=Live
Home Opener – Feb. 7, 6 p.m. at Henley Field against No. 8 Colorado Mesa University
Florida Southern went 32-20 in the 2023 season, with 17 wins in the Sunshine State Conference. The Moccasins open the 2024 season on the road against the Argos in a rematch not only from last year's opening season series but also from the NCAA South Region tournament to end the 2023 season, the 43
rd time in program history to make the postseason. Ahead of this weekend's matchup, FSC is receiving votes in the NCBWA preseason poll and was picked third in the Sunshine State Conference Coaches Poll. Florida Southern has 49 games, 23 at Henley Field in Lakeland, on this season's schedule with several top-25 matchups throughout the year.
"The team and our entire coaching staff are ready to get the season started," said head coach
Lance Niekro '10. "I feel that we have compiled one of the toughest schedules in the country and we are excited to embrace the challenge against very good teams."
The 2024 Team
Florida Southern returned 20 athletes from the 2023 squad, with many position players that helped FSC to 77 home runs last year, the third-most in Moccasin history. On the pitching front, FSC returns several from last year's bullpen that contributed to the fourth-most strikeouts in program history at 475. Combined, the 20 returners have nearly 600 games of NCAA experience, and several have 2+ years at FSC alone.
Position Players
Leading the returning position players of Florida Southern is
Rohsean Riley, named a 2024 Preseason NCBWA All-South First Team member after a stellar 2023 performance. The third baseman started all 52 games last year and was named to the 2023 All-SSC First Team and both the D2CCA and NCBWA All-South teams. He finished the season with a .320 batting average and 31 RBI and team-high four triples. R. Riley will be alongside
Jevin Relaford, who returns to shortstop after also going 52 games last season and a team-best 14 stolen bases. Relaford finished with 61 total hits at the plate and was an athlete in the infield with stellar catches and saves.
In the outfield, FSC returns
Bryce Safferwich, another All-SSC and All-Region player who had 48 starts and led the team with 81 hits. Safferwich led the team with a .382 batting average and top 10 in the nation for hits per game at 1.69 with 16 doubles. Next to him all last year was
D'Ante Starks, who had 12 stolen bases, a .310 batting average, and 36 RBI. Starks smashed a grand slam against Nova Southeastern last year and finished with five home runs in the year. All four of the returners mentioned (Safferwich, Relaford, R. Riley, and Starks) played almost the entirety of the 2023 season to which coach Niekro shared, "I expect them to be leaders on the team and continue to build on their great fall and early spring practices."
Whether DH or in the outfield last year,
El'Rico Riley returns for another year along with
Ahmad Fitts, both key contributors at the plate and outfield utility players to fill in at any needed spot.
Grady Maguire returns for his fourth year at FSC capable of infield and strong batting despite limited games played last season. A final returning infielder is a sophomore with one game played,
Brady Doorey. Behind the plate, FSC returns
Tilden Agee and
Michael Balboni with catching experience after last year's catcher,
Drew Cavanaugh ended the 2023 summer drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 17
th round.
Pitchers
With two of last year's starters graduating, FSC returns several to step up to the plate led by
Jordan Fox, Lake Fisher, and
Mitchell LeRoy. Fox started 12 of his 13 appearances last season and finished with 44 strikeouts and a 5.88 ERA. The lefty went 5-1 in his appearances and had 64.1 innings pitched. Fisher was another contributor with 17 appearances and four starts, with a 3-0 record. The senior righty had a 5.40 ERA and 33.1 innings pitched on the year. LeRoy returns for his third year with the program after 14 appearances and two starts last year. He had eight strikeouts against IUP and only one walk to finish with a 3.90 ERA in his 27.2 innings.
Other returning pitchers include
Justin Stewart (12 appearances in 2023) and
Jake Curry (10 appearances and two starts). After 21.1 innings pitched as a freshman,
Evan Mobley will also return after his 13 appearances and solo start. The remaining returning pitchers are
Austen Kessler, David Butz, Tommy Turkett, and
Zach Smith each with at least one game played last season.
Newcomers
Florida Southern added 11 transfers this year, beginning with graduate student
Jaiden Warde, an infielder from Flagler College. He tallied 148 games and 137 starts in his four years at Flagler and totaled 147 hits and 90 RBI during that time. Another infielder addition was
Nick Collins, a first baseman from Houston. Collins had 15 games and two starts in his time at Houston and previously spent three seasons with Polk State under former Moccasin Al Corbeil. In the outfield,
Jack Duffy was added from Houston and teammates with Collins at both UH and Polk State where he was a 2
nd Team All-American. A strong utility player,
Chris McKenna joined the Mocs after appearing in 13 games at Gardner-Webb and is a force that can catch, play infield, and hold down the outfield as a junior. A nearby Bradenton, Fla. native,
Cam Moore rounded out the position player adds over the last season. Moore, a catcher from Niagara University, played 12 games in his freshman campaign after graduating from the IMG Academy.
Six pitchers were added from the NCAA transfer portal, starting with
Brandon Laux from Eastern Kentucky University. Laux had one appearance at EKU and previously played two seasons at Kirkwood Community College as a righty.
Wyatt Clark (Central Missouri),
Tanner Quick (UNC), and
Marcos Herrand (Coppin State) also came from Division I institutions as Herrand left CSU with 108 career strikeouts in 132.2 innings of work. The final transfers are
Logan Adams (South Florida State) and
Casey O'Dell (Santa Fe) who each had strong contributions to their teams before making the jump to FSC.
Freshman Class
Four freshmen were added to the FSC team this season.
Lucas Perez is a righty out of Winter Haven and
Tanner Rollyson is a left-handed pitcher from Plant City. They are joined by position players
Canyon Marcewicz (infielder from Lakeland) and
Josh Hines, a catcher from Tampa.
"We have added great pieces to our roster in 2024 utilizing the transfer portal and four freshmen in this year's class," said Niekro on this year's team. "Every year is different, and we have found student-athletes ready to meet the challenge of our schedule and competitive conference. I am pleased with the leadership and experience of our returning core and look forward to seeing the mental toughness of this team."
Coaching Staff
Coach Niekro enters his 13
th year with the program and his 12
th season leading the Moccasins. In last year's series against Florida Tech, Niekro hit his 300
th career win and sits in fifth among FSC baseball history in all-time wins behind Joe Arnold's 315 wins. The former San Francisco Giants major leaguer, Niekro has amassed 18 All-Americans, 22 All-South players, and 40 All-SSC winners in addition to over 200 named to the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll and three consecutive ACBA Team Academic Excellence Awards. Returning for his eighth year with the Mocs is Associate Head Coach
Steven Crabtree. Primarily responsible for the infielders and as the hitting coach, Crabtree serves as the recruiting coordinator in a 2024 class that has four incoming freshmen and 11 transfers.
Returning to the Moccasin baseball family is
Jordan Barrett, who rejoins the coaching staff as the pitching coach for FSC. Previously named a volunteer pitching coach during the 2022 season, Barrett returned to Lakeland after working as the pitching coach for Polk State for two seasons. New to FSC in the fall is assistant coachs
Nick Videll who worked with the JV program in fall 2023 and helped lead the team to the most wins in program history, and will call on his collegiate pitching experience to assist Barrett.
"I am grateful to have coach Crabtree as a constant in our coaching staff and his ability to recruit great players and build those we have returning," said Niekro on his associate head coach. Regarding the new additions to the coaching staff, Niekro said: "We are excited to have Jordan back with us and feel he can step up to the demands of a competitive Division II program in a quest to win a national championship. We also added Nick who did great work with our JV program in the fall and will be valuable resources to our varsity squad this spring."
FSC Baseball History
Florida Southern baseball sits atop all Division II programs with nine NCAA national championships in its storied history. In its 43 years as a member of the SSC, FSC has had 17 conference championships, nine SSC Coach of the Year, four SSC Player of the Year, three SSC Pitcher of the Year, and five SSC Freshman of the Year awards. The Moccasins have 21 regional championships and 43 appearances in the NCAA tournament. A hub of professional talent, FSC has produced 143 Major League Baseball draft picks and 12 with an appearance in the big league in its history, including former MLB All-Stars John Hudek and Matt Joyce, World Series Champion Greg Pryor (Kansas City, 1985), and current head coach Lance Niekro. FSC has an all-time record of 2,250-878-7 since 1957 and holds an NCAA record for 153 Division II NCAA postseason wins.
2024 Florida Southern Baseball Home Schedule
Feb. 7 – Colorado Mesa University, 6:00 p.m.
March 1 – Eckerd College (SSC), 6:00 p.m.
March 2 – Eckerd College (DH & SSC), 1:00/4:00 p.m.
March 4 – Kentucky Wesleyan College, 6:00 p.m.
March 5 – Kentucky Wesleyan College, 6:00 p.m.
March 8 – Seton Hill University, 1:00 p.m.
March 8 – Seton Hill University, 11:00 a.m.
March 13 – Wayne State University, 6:00 p.m.
March 19 – Florida Tech, 6:00 p.m.
March 28 – Saint Leo University (SSC), 6:00 p.m.
March 29 – Saint Leo University (DH & SSC), 1:00/4:00 p.m.
April 9 – Rollins College, 6:00 p.m.
April 12 – Lynn University (SSC), 6:00 p.m.
April 13 – Lynn University (DH & SSC), 1:00/4:00 p.m.
April 19 – Nova Southeastern University (SSC), 6:00 p.m.
April 20 – Nova Southeastern University (SSC), 3:00 p.m.
April 21 – Nova Southeastern University (SSC), 1:00 p.m.
May 10 – Florida Tech (SSC), 6:00 p.m.
May 11 – Florida Tech (DH & SSC), 1:00/4:00 p.m.
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