Opening Weekend Series Thread: GWU vs FAU Feb 16-18, 2018
What: George Washington (0-0) at Florida Atlantic (0-0)
When: Fri, Feb 16th at 6:30 PM
Sat, Feb 17th at 4:00 PM
Sun, Feb 18th at 12:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Stream: CUSA.tv *FEE
Stats: Here
Series:
The Owls lead 4-0 having taken the lone series outright in 2004, and a solo effort way back in 1984.
Projected Starting Pitchers
Sat: GWU - LHP Pat Knight (9-3, 4.92 ERA JUCO)
FAU - LHP Jake Miednik (7-4, 4.88 ERA 2017)
Sat: GWU - RHP Elliott Raimo (8-3, 3.20 ERA)
FAU - RHP Kyle Marman (2-2, 4.50 ERA 2017)
Sun: GWU - TBA
FAU - RHP Vince Coletti (5-0, 2.95 ERA JUCO)
Notes
Owls
After a 35-21-1 overall mark and an 18-12 showing on Conference USA action last season the Owls will be looking to return to post season play in 2018.
To aid in that endeavor, they will return five key position players in that of SS Tyler Frank (.336, 11 HR, 43 RBI), RF David Miranda (.319, 12 HR, 51 RBI), LF Eric Rivera (All Freshman C-USA), C Pedro Pages, and 1B Gunnar Lambert (.306).
LHP Jake Miednik gets the nod as the Friday night starter after a 7-4 mark in 2017. He was up and down a bit early but completed the season strong while enjoying a solid fall camp this year.
Kyle Marmon will take the mound on Saturday's and has improved his overall appearance by shedding what he figures to be about 20 pounds. This has mainly been accomplished through changes in dietary habits.
“He not only changed the look of his body, but it’s also made him better on the mound", Coach John McCormack said. "The light turned on and he saw he could be really good, and he deserves to be the Saturday night starter.”
Newcomer RHP Vince Coletti gets the ball on Sunday. “He has a true out pitch in that breaking ball, and he comes with starting experience at the community college level, so we feel really good about it", said McCormack.
FAU was picked to finish 3rd in the 2018 C-USA Preseason Poll behind Southern Miss, and Rice who received 11 and 1 first place votes respectively.
Colonials
George Washington turned in its second 30-win season of the last three seasons in 2017 by finishing with a 31-27 overall mark.
They return 19 members from last season's squad, including four All-Conference and/or All-Region performers, while nine newcomers and three junior college transfers will join the team.
Most notable is transfer Dominic D'Alessandro, who was the NJCAA Division III homerun leader (15) during his inaugural campaign at Rowan College.
The Colonials were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the annual Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches Poll. They set a new program record for fielding percentage in 2017 by finishing the year at .982 as a team.
Source: George Washington Media relations
OWLS WIN! #FAU ⚾️ knocks off #GWU 3-0 in 2018 opener! Pages 2RBI 2B. Frank, Rivera, Johnson each with RS. WP Miednik 6IP, 1H, 7K. Sanderson 2IP, 1H, 3K. Schnieder 1IP, 0H. G2 Sat @ 4:00p #GoOwls! 👌 pic.twitter.com/Gj8MUsJjvM
— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) February 17, 2018
The Owls took their 2018 opener 3-0 over George Washington on Friday night.
FAU (1-0) broke a scoreless contest in the 3rd inning when Pedro Pages doubled in Tyler Frank and Diamond Johnson.
The damage could have been worse for the Colonials but the Owls left a pair of runners aboard for the second straight stanza.
A pair of throwing errors allowed Eric Rivera to cross the plate in the 4th inning to give FAU the final 3-0 advantage.
Jake Miednik (1-0) tossed six innings, giving up just one hit, while striking out seven.
Florida Atlantic saw the bullpen close the game out, while allowing just one hit for the final three frames.
UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2018 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
Local Owl said
Jake Miednik was great. Never in trouble all night. Our hitters were all way too excited. I think the bats should light up in game two. MLB, 81% is unheard of. Wow.Posted On: Feb 17th 2018, 6:06 AM #377219
First, a correction. There was and mark on the paper that I read as part of a number (read "8" as "18"), and there were "only" 87, not 97 strikes, but still an amazing 73% strikes.
It's tough to get a hit when you don't see strikes (GW threw only 2 more strikes on 49 more pitches). Our OBP for the night was .312. At one point, in a 14-batter stretch, every batter had at least a 2-ball count, with 9 having a 3-ball count (and one of the 2-ball counts ending when Montes laid down a perfect SAC bunt to advance Johnson, who scored the first run of the game). For the night, in 8 innings at the plate only 7 FAU batters had less than a 2-ball count. In 9 innings at the plate, only 8 GW batters even reached a 2-ball count.
Also, our defense was flawless. Gotta give props to Johnson for that line drive he ran down in left in the 9th. Looked like Mantle in his prime.
Pitching and D looked solid.
The pen blew a would be shut out but Coach Mack is obviously trying to get guys time.
Interesting enough, the run came against a seasoned transfer.
The boys will go for the sweep tomorrow.
OWLS WIN! #FAU ⚾️ defeats #GWU 6-1 with middle inning surge to clinch series! Johnson 2RBI, Rivera 2-2 RBI, Nizza RBI, Montes 2-3. WP Marman 6IP, 4H, 7K. G3 for the SWEEP Sun @ 12:00p #GoOwls! 👌 pic.twitter.com/PFBqUzsslm
— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) February 18, 2018
UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2018 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
None of those were aware of Rule 9.05(b)(3).
Rule 9 is "The Rules of Scoring"
Rule 9.05 is "Base Hits"
Rule 9.05(b) is "The official scorer shall not credit a base hit when a:"
and Rule 9.05(b)(3) is "pitcher, the catcher or any infielder handles a batted ball and puts out a preceding runner who is attempting to advance one base or to return to his original base, or would have put out such runner with ordinary effort except for a fielding error. The official scorer shall charge the batter with a time at bat but no hit;"
In other words, the batter is awarded a fielders choice. If the runner from 2B had been safe, and in the scorer's judgment the batter would not have reached had the throw been accurate, then it would have been an error. Or, had the runner reached 3B and then been put out at home, it would have been an error (the no assumption of double play only applied to force and reverse force double plays - and, unknown by most, even then can be assumed if the error is on the 1B dropping the ball). But, even more interestingly, had something like last years "Labsan shift" been on, and the LF been playing in and made the throw, and the play otherwise developed exactly the same, the batter would have met all the criteria for and have been awarded a hit (note that not a hit only if anyone other than an outfielder initiates the play; outfielder initiate play, it's a hit) - not an error; not a fielders choice, a hit. That would have probably brought out pitchforks and torches.
It can go the opposite way, too. If a runner reaches 2B on an error, and the next batter hits a flare to left with both SS and LF going for it. SS picks up the ball, throws to 3B and puts out the runner from 2B. The batter reaching on an error just took a hit away from the following batter, who now reaches on a fielders choice on what by all that is just and fair earned himself a hit (if LF picked the ball up, it would have been a hit). Or, if a runner reaches 1B on an error, batter hits a routine grounder directly toward the second baseman, the ball hits the runner. Runner out, the batter gets credit for a hit when, without the error, he easily grounded out. You don't have to like the rules, and they don't have to make sense, you just have to follow them. If anyone doesn't, the stats to measure players and teams against one another become meaningless.
Everyone, after reading the rule, agreed it was scored properly as a fielders choice. The fan, after hearing the rule read, went away.
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