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SERIES THREAD: FAU vs MTSU - May 11th - 13th, 2018

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Baseball Series Thread: FAU vs MTSU - May 11th - 13th, 2018



What:      FAU (32-14-1, 15-8-1) at MTSU (24-23-1, 9-14-1)

When:      Fri, May 11th at 7:00 PM
                Sat, May 12th at 5:00 PM
                Sun, May 13th at 2:00 PM


WhereReese Smith Jr. Field

Video:   Here

Stats:    Here


Series

The Owls lead 20-15 overall.


Projected Starting Pitchers

Fri:        FAU - RHP Vince Coletti (2-3, 3.68)
             MT -  LHP Jake Wyrick (3-3, 3.95)

Sat:       FAU - TBA
             MT -  TBA

Sun:      FAU - TBA
             MT -  TBA


Game Notes

Owls

FAU baseball wraps the road portion of the 2018 regular season this weekend in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for a three-game set against Conference USA foe Middle Tennessee.

Florida Atlantic got a big non-conference win Tuesday night against UCF, who too is projected for postseason play. With six league games remaining, the team trails just 19-4 Southern Miss, by 3 1/2 games. The Golden Eagles host third-place Louisiana Tech, who, at 16-8, are percentage points behind FAU.

Under Coach McCormack, FAU is 14-12 against MTSU, with wins in each of the last five. Last season in Boca Raton, it was an FAU sweep by scores of 7-6, 10-1 and 7-6 again.

Following this weekend, only three more games remain in the regular season for the Owls, at FAU Baseball Stadium, May 17-19 against WKU.


Blue Raiders

Middle Tennessee was red hot in Ruston last weekend, putting up a combined 28 runs against a Louisiana Tech team who had the lowest team ERA in the conference. The Blue Raiders sit just a game and a half back of a conference tournament spot with still six games to play.

The Blue Raiders look to continue the hot hitting and right fielder Blake Benefield could be the key. The junior outfielder smashed three home runs, including two in the Saturday matchup, making him the second Blue Raider to hit double digits in home runs with 10.

Senior Aaron Aucker also put together a nice weekend. The power hitter drove in seven runs in six hits and two home runs, pushing him to 22 career long balls.

Middle Tennessee is 13-13-1 for the year while playing at home in Murfressboro.
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Middle Tennessee (25-23-1, 10-14-1) scored five combined runs in the fourth and fifth and held Florida Atlantic University baseball to five hits in Friday’s 6-2 win over the Owls on Friday night. The loss marked the first in an opening game of a series against a Conference USA opponent this season.

“Tonight is a tough loss, you have to give credit to their starting pitcher, he made the pitches tonight when it counted,” said Head Coach John McCormack. “This is a really important series and we need to be ready to go tomorrow.”

Tyler Frank led off Friday’s game by slicing a 2-2 pitch the opposite way and over the rightfield fence for a quick 1-0 FAU (31-15-1, 15-9-1) lead. But the Blue Raiders, on a strength of a two-run shot by Aaron Aucker in the fourth, took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

MT scored twice more in the fifth, and only in the eighth did FAU get multiple runners on. They chased starter Jake Wyrick after two walks, a run scoring on an error, and a David Miranda single to bring the tying run to the plate. But closer Drew Huff induced a flyout to end that threat, and worked around a leadoff single by Gunnar Lambert in the ninth to earn the save.

The team will meet again today at 5:00 PM.

UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2018 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
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The FAU Baseball team matched their season high in runs, rapping eight extra base hits and scoring 14 runs from the fifth inning on in a 17-9 win Saturday night against Middle Tennessee to even up the series heading into Sunday.

It was a 3-2 game in favor of FAU (33-15-1, 16-8-1) heading into the top of the fifth, and a three-run home run by Tyler Frank pushed the cushion to 6-2.

Middle Tennessee stormed back with four in the home half, with a three-run homer of their own by Aaron Aucker to tie it up.

But it only took two batters for the Owls to regain the lead, when Eric Rivera drew a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth, and Gunnar Lambert brought him in with a double to right-center.

Two more for FAU in the seventh, on a solo home run by David Miranda, and a fielding error, pushed them into double digits.

MT (25-24-1, 10-15-1) got three in the bottom, cutting it to one at 10-9, but wouldn’t score again.

Meanwhile, the Owls got three more in the eighth (on a two-out, three-run shot by Miranda) and four in the ninth (highlighted by a Frank two-run double) to win going away.

“What an offensive game, the guys swung it really well, and we did enough on the mound to get the win,” said Head Coach John McCormack. “The guys kept fighting and I am proud of their effort today.”

On the hill Blake Sanderson threw 4 2/3 innings in his start, and of the five hits against him, three were infield singles. Drew Peden got the victory to improve to 8-1 on the year. Jordan Poore threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, and Marc Stewart shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth.

MTSU had to use seven pitchers in the loss and could be hobbled for the rubber match of the series, which starts at 2:00 PM on Sunday afternoon.

UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2018 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
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FAU pounds out three homers to take series from MTSU


FAU baseball pounded out three homers to take their series finals from MTSU on Sunday afternoon in a 9-4 affair.

Three batters into the game, the Owls (34-15-1, 17-8-1) went up, courtesy of a Tyler Frank single and David Miranda’s home run, his third in two days. Unfortunately, it only took MT (25-25-1, 10-6-1) two batters to equal it, on a two-run homer of their own. Then, the Blue Raiders loaded the bases with just one out, necessitating an FAU pitching change. Nick Swan was up to the task, striking out one batter looking, and getting a one-pitch flyout to stop the threat.

After a scoreless second on both sides, FAU pulled away with four unearned runs in the third and three more in the fourth. With two outs in the visiting third, an error extended the inning and loaded the bases, a strikeout/wild pitch scored one, a wild pitch another, and Joe Montes two more with a single. The next inning, it was back-to-back Owl home runs, a two-run towering shot by Andru Summerall, followed by a solo, opposite-field line drive from Cody Wilson. Though MT scored once in the fifth and seventh, Jordan Poore put the bow on it with 2 1/3 perfect and scoreless innings to wrap the series.

“The guys played hard today to win the series,” said Head Coach John McCormack. “Nick Swan’s performance in the first inning was fantastic. He set the tone and gave the offense a chance. I am proud of our guys.”

Swan (2-0) got the win, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. In his two games against the Blue Raiders, the junior lefthander allowed just three hits and one run in 7 1/3 (for an opposing batting average of .120 and ERA of 1.23), with one walk and eight K’s

Jordan Poore had his second straight scoreless outing of the weekend, four innings combined with just one hit (a .077 OBA)

The Owls will face Western Kentucky for their final regular season series of the year, beginning Thursday at 6:30 PM.

UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2018 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
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