FAMU won last year’s season opener over Marshall by a score
of 4-3, in 2015, before dropping the final two games of the series. The
Rattlers are returning 20 players that contributed to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
(MEAC) Championship team in 2015, including preseason All-MEAC 1st team
selections Marlon Gibbs and Brian Davis. Returning senior relief pitcher
Brandon Fleming, who went 7-1 last season, was named to the preseason All-MEAC
2nd team.
"I'm real excited about the 2016 season as I feel we're better and have improved in a lot of areas," said Head Coach Jamey Shouppe. “We're excited about the depth we have this year, which is something we haven't had the last couple of years. We feel we are better offensively and we have more pitching depth this year. That is exciting because you're not going to win if you don't have plenty of good pitching. We definitely feel like we're better in that area this year."
Between freshman, transfers and redshirt players, the
Rattlers have brought in several key additions both in the field and to the
pitching staff that should provide an immediate impact. Transfer Jacky Miles,
Jr., from Chipola Junior College, will come in and see time behind the plate at
catcher, while fellow transfer Ben Ellzey, from College of Central Florida,
will play third base in place of departed senior Ryan Kennedy. Freshman Willis
McDaniel, a local two-sport product from Lincoln High School in Tallahassee,
that will help fill a hole left in the center field from the graduation of
Jared Walker.
The coaching staff went out and brought in more depth to the
pitching staff that had the lowest team ERA in program history in 2015. With
six new pitchers available this season and an increased bullpen that had a 1.98
ERA against MEAC competition last season, the 2016 staff should be one to
watch.
"Our pitching is better than it was last year,"
Shouppe said. “We have depth as a starting staff and in all areas, which is
something we have really longed to have so we feel good about our pitching."
FAMU starts the season with 14 non-conference games before
opening the MEAC portion of the schedule at home against Bethune-Cookman on
March 12. The 51-game regular season schedule will wrap up the weekend of May
14 at home against North Carolina A&T. The MEAC Tournament will return to
Salisbury, MD the week of May 19-22.
First pitch on Friday against Marshall is scheduled for 4:00
PM at Moore-Kittles Field, while the final two games of the series will be on
Saturday at 1:00 PM and Sunday at 11:00 AM.