Joe Kinker's record-breaking power helps lead FGCU to best start in baseball program history

If like in the old Major League Baseball commercial starring former Atlanta Braves hall-of-fame pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, you dig the long ball, then Swanson Stadium is where you need to be.

The Florida Gulf Coast University baseball team is off to the best start in program history due in large part to simply outscoring its opponents. By a lot.

The Eagles are 21-4, ranked No. 16 in the nation by D1Baseball.com, and have outscored their opponents 255-146 and out-homered their opponents 56-19.

Nationally, they are at the top of the charts in most major offensive stat categories through play Sunday including:

∎ Batting average: 7. .327

∎ Hits: 2. 297

∎ Home runs: 4. 56

∎ On-base Percentage: 3. .452

∎ Runs: T4. 255

∎ Runs per game: 5. 10.2

∎ Slugging Percentage: 5. .589

“We said from the start we thought this is a good baseball team, a great bunch of guys, but no one knew how good we were,” FGCU coach Dave Tollett said. “Some publications had us third in the conference, and they didn’t even rank us in the top 100 before we got started. So it was a little motivation and I think it still is.”

The team’s motto this year is ‘We Know’. Tollett says that his team knows the quality of talent it has and that their lackluster preseason predictions lit a fire in them.

No one on the team may personify the underdog and power-hitting mentality of the Eagles more than senior first baseman/designated hitter Joe Kinker.

Kinker, who joined FGCU as a walk-on out of Venice High School, has had an illustrious career. He was named to the earned ASUN All-Freshman Team, the ASUN Second Team as a sophomore, and was an ASUN First Team selection last season.

On March 7 in a road game at Troy, Kinker broke the program’s career home run record, surpassing the 48 Nick Rivera hit from 2013-17. This season, Kinker has tallied eight home runs, giving him 50 for his career, 34 RBI, and 41 hits in 99 at-bats with a slugging percentage of .727.

“I don’t think any individual accolade could boost it,” Kinker said. “We’re a team. I do what I can to help the team win but I like to keep it with the team. But it definitely helps.”

“Joe’s worked very hard,” Tollett said. “He’s a kid who just needed a chance and got a chance. And he comes in here and sets one of the greatest records of all time that might stand for a long time.”

This edition of the Eagles has a chance to crush a lot of team records, especially two set by last year's team − home runs (94) and RBI (450) − as well as runs scored (512 in 2007) and hits (703 in 2010) with 31 games left in the 2023 regular season. They'll start adding to those numbers with a three-game series against ASUN foe Jacksonville at Swanson Stadium. The first game is at 6:30 Friday night followed by tilts at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

FGCU had its coming out on the national stage this season when the Eagles traveled to Florida State and Troy in early March. The Eagles’ power at the plate was on full display on the road trip as they were held to less than 10 runs in just one game and went 4-1, earning the 24th spot in D1Baseball’s national poll the following week.

Since being ranked, the Eagles have gone 7-2, including a dominant 28-7 win over ASUN opponent North Alabama last Friday. The 28 runs were the most against an opponent in a single game in both the program's Division I history and against an ASUN Conference opponent. The Eagles swatted seven home runs, which tied the program record.

“We knew we had the team to be good,” Kinker said. “When we play like we know how to, we are pretty hard to beat. Just playing defense and hitting in the clutch. Everyone’s just doing their jobs and playing their roles.”

As exceptional as Kinker has been, it’s obvious it isn’t a one-man-show at Swanson Stadium. Alejandro Figueredo and Edrick Felix have been invaluable to the Eagles' historic start as well.

Felix has added 28 hits in 99 at-bats with nine home runs and 33 RBI with a team-high .758 slugging percentage.

Rodriguez provides important juice to the dugout with his vocal leadership and leads by example at the plate as well. He’s had 32 hits in 99 appearances with nine home runs and 32 RBI while recording a .737 slugging percentage.

“It's a very unique group,” Tollett said. “One that I really enjoy coming to the ballpark and being around. And not just because we’re good. It’s just because they're good kids.”

Nation's Top 5 teams for home runs

Nation's Top 5 teams for runs scored

Nation's Top 5 teams for hits

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FGCU baseball scoring in bunches and climbing up national rankings