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FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU Eagles fans were excited when two-way star Evan Dempsey announced he was returning to southwest Florida for another season and D1Baseball.com just confirmed why, listing the junior P/OF as the nation’s best loyal returning player heading into the 2026 season.
Writer Aaron Fitt led D1Baseball.com’s ranking of its 2026 All-Loyalty Team, considering only players who earned all conference honors in 2025 at schools that compete in non-Power Four conferences, and opted to return to the same school in 2026.
D1Baseball.com sorted the pool of candidates by Wins Above Replacement (WAR), as calculated by 6-4-3 Charts and Synergy.
A Consensus All-American last season, Dempsey led the loyal returners with a WAR rating of 4.14, followed closely by Troy’s Blake Cavill and Northeastern’s Harrison Feinberg – the only three players who accrued more than 4 WAR last year and opted to return to their programs.
Dempsey also received the John Olerud Award, presented by the College Baseball Foundation to the nation’s top two-way player. He was named National 2-Way Player of the Year by Perfect Game and earned First Team All-American honors as a two-way player from Baseball America. Both D1Baseball and the College Baseball Foundation recognized him as a First Team utility player. He was also named a Second Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
On the mound, Dempsey went 5-1 with a 1.97 ERA in 15 appearances, including 10 starts. The sophomore logged 68.2 innings, striking out 75 and walking 20. Of the 57 hits he allowed, only six went for extra bases. Opponents batted just .225 against him. In his final start of the season, on four days’ rest, Dempsey pitched five innings to lead FGCU to a 6-5 win over Stetson, clinching a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference championship.
As an outfielder, the Tampa native played in all 60 games, starting 59. He batted .309 with 71 hits, including 18 doubles and three home runs, for a .435 slugging percentage. He scored 41 runs, drove in 30 and was a perfect 14-for-14 on stolen base attempts, tying for the team lead.
Defensively, Dempsey committed just one error in 99 chances, recording 86 putouts and 12 assists—including two from the outfield—for a .990 fielding percentage.
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Season tickets, Mini Plans and single-game tickets for all 31 games at Swanson Stadium can now be obtained at FGCUtickets.com or by calling 1-866-FGCU-TIX. Tickets for each game start as low as $12. Season tickets and Mini Plans remain on sale for fans who want to take advantage of an even better deal.
The Eagles begin the season with a 12-game home stand as part of a home schedule that features Summit League Champion North Dakota, Boston College, Minnesota and an Indiana State program that has been to the NCAA Regionals in two of the past three years.
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2026 D1Baseball.com All-Loyalty Team
Position
Player
School
Conference
WAR
C
Wailele Kane-Yates
Oral Roberts
Summit League
2.88
1B
Blake Cavill
Troy
Sun Belt
4.13
2B
Gabe Natividad
Winthrop
Big South
3.62
3B
Jayder Raifstanger
St. John’s
Big East
3.48
SS
Luke Nomura
Fairfield
MAAC
3.89
OF
Harrison Feinberg
Northeastern
CAA
4.04
OF
Matt Bucciero
Fairfield
MAAC
3.56
OF
Eston Snider
MTSU
CUSA
3.53
DH
Johnny Sweeney
USC Upstate
Big South
3.87
UT
FGCU
ASUN
4.14
SP
Cameron Flukey
Coastal Carolina
Sun Belt
2.81
SP
Jack Ohman
Yale
Ivy League
2.29
SP
Josh Newell
Lindenwood
Ohio Valley
2.16
SP
Ben Alekson
Fairfield
MAAC
1.91
SP
Griffin Naess
Cal Poly
Big West
1.89
RP
Robert Orloski
UTSA
American
1.56
RP
Ricky Ojeda
UC Irvine
Big West
1.19