FORT MYERS, Fla.- After helping lead the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers to a Suncoast Conference Championship in his only season in Fort Myers, slugging first baseman Hunter Fitz-Gerald has signed to play next season at Division I powerhouse Old Dominion University.
Fitz-Gerald was a 1st Team All-Suncoast Conference and 2nd Team All-FCSAA performer during his sophomore campaign with the Bucs, hitting .359 with an 1.110 OPS while tying for the team lead with 10 home runs and driving in 48 which was second best on the squad. He finished with 69 hits and 52 runs scored in 54 games for FSW, whacking 15 doubles and a team best five triples to go along with his 10 long balls. Fitz-Gerald had 22 multi-hit games on the season and drove in two or more runs on 15 occasions, one of those coming in a 3-5, three homer, seven RBI game in a Bucs win over Polk State to kick off Suncoast Conference play and ultimately earned him FCSAA State Player of the Week honors.
Fitz-Gerald will head to Norfolk, Virginia to play for the Monarchs next season after ODU put together its second straight 40 win campaign this year, going 41-17 overall and 19-11 in Conference USA action which was good for third in the fifth toughest NCAA Baseball league in the country in 2022. The Monarchs were an egregious omission from this year's NCAA Tournament despite finishing the season ranked 40th in the RPI and 11 wins over Quad 1 & 2 opponents, missing out on their second straight trip to the Big Dance after winning a pair of games in the Columbia Regional in 2021.
FSW earned their third straight 40 win season in 2022, finishing 42-15 overall while dominating Suncoast Conference play at 25-3 for their third straight league title.
Fitz-Gerald is the 11th Division I signee and 15th four year signee overall for the Bucs this season, joining Magnus Ellerts (Florida), Ben Peterson (North Carolina), Jose Izarra (Dallas Baptist), Grant Besser (Rutgers), Riley Skeen (South Florida), Matthew Corpas (Florida International), Nicholas Regalado (FGCU), Paxton Tomaini (Dayton) Ronny Medina (Radford), Ben Petscke (Samford), Frank Elissalt & Ronaldo Fernandez (Nova Southeastern), Chase Chatman (St. Thomas), and Kalvin Alexander (Georgia Southwestern).