Florida Gulf Coast University announced on May 18 that its baseball team earned both the Atlantic Sun Conference’s Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards. Jon Embury was named ASUN Player of the Year, while Evan Dempsey received Pitcher of the Year honors. The two were among seven FGCU players recognized on this season’s All-ASUN teams.
This marks only the fifth time in conference history that one school has won both top individual awards in a single year. FGCU is also the first program to achieve this distinction twice, having previously done so in 2008 with Jason Peacock and Richard Bleier winning Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
Dempsey was honored as both a starting pitcher and outfielder on the First Team All-ASUN. Embury (catcher) and Javier Gorostola (third base) also made first team, while Chris Diaz (starting pitcher), Hunter Possehl (starting pitcher), and Jaret Nelson (first base) earned Second Team recognition. Ashton Pocol received Third Team honors as a relief pitcher. In total, FGCU collected eight all-conference awards—second most in program history behind nine accolades last year—and led all schools for most honorees this season.
Dempsey’s performance included ranking fourth nationally with 116 strikeouts—second highest in school history—and leading several pitching categories within ASUN play. He also contributed offensively as an outfielder by leading or ranking among league leaders in runs scored, hits per game, doubles, batting average, total bases, home runs, and stolen bases.
Embury led ASUN hitters in categories such as hits per game, total bases, RBIs per game, home runs per game, slugging percentage and was top among catchers for batting average and runners caught stealing. His current season ranks him high on several all-time lists at FGCU including tenth-best batting average and eleventh-most home runs for a single season.
The Eagles recently secured the No. 3 seed for this year’s ASUN Tournament beginning Wednesday evening against either Central Arkansas or Stetson.
