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Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

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What:    #24 South Alabama (22-4, 5-1) at Florida Atlantic (16-9, 4-2)

When:      Fri,  Mar 29th at 6:30 PM
                Sat, Mar 30th at 4:00 PM
                Sun, Mar 31st at 12:00 PM


Where:    FAU Baseball Stadium


Live Stats  Here


Series:      Florida Atlantic owns a 14-6 all-time record against South Alabama, but lost the last meeting between the schools.
                The Jaguars eliminated the Owls from last year's conference tournament with a 5-4 win in extra innings.


Projected Starting Pitchers:

Fri:          FAU - LHP Austin Gomber (2-1, 1.37 ERA, 40 K, 9 BB)
              USA - RHP Brandon Boyle (1-1, 3.33 ERA, 25 K, 4 BB)

Sat:        FAU - RHP Jake Meiers (2-2, 5.59 ERA, 24 K, 9 BB)
                USA - LHP Jacob Noble (3-0, 3.00 ERA, 31 K, 11 BB)

Sun:        FAU - RHP Jeremy Strawn (1-1, 3.52 ERA, 25 K, 8 BB)
              USA - RHP Jarron Cito (1-1, 4.34 ERA, 37 K, 5 BB)






Florida Atlantic returns home after a four game road swing which included a commanding victory over Miami earlier this week.

The Owls were able to grab their marquee win of the season with a 6-1 victory over the Canes.

“I talked to the guys about using what we did as a stepping stone moving forward,” head coach John McCormack said. “Now we go into the weekend with the guys feeling good about themselves.”

With a resume worthy win under their belts, the squad will look to continue their winning ways with a three games series this weekend against No. 24 South Alabama.

The Jaguars travel to Boca Raton with a surprising 22-4 (5-1) record and are tied atop the Sun Belt Conference standings with Western Kentucky.  South Alabama is ranked No. 24 in both the Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America Polls, and have won nine of their last ten games.

Last weekend the Jaguars took three games from Arkansas Little-Rock before grabbing an impressive midweek win over Southern Mississippi.

South Alabama's success this season has been a product of the team's offense, as the club ranks first in the conference in both hits and runs batted in.

FAU will try and counter the Jaguar's bats with one of the top pitching staffs in the league. The Owls own the Sun Belt's best earned run average at 2.98 and have yet to surrender a triple this year.

Austin Gomber will start for FAU on Friday night, and look to open the series on a high note. The southpaw currently has the best earned average in the conference at 1.37 and has 40 strikeouts to his name.

Jake Meiers will get the nod on Saturday before Jeremy Strawn closes things out on Sunday.

The Owls are 12-0 this season when scoring six runs or more, and one individual who has helped supply the run production has been leadoff man Nathan Pittman.

Pittman, a senior and starting outfielder, is sporting a .307 batting average this season but more importantly is tied for the team lead with 17 runs scored.

"Coach McCormack told me that at the beginning of the year that I’m the leadoff guy, so it’s my job to get on base and get dirty,” Pittman said.

While many of his runs can be attested to his high batting average, Pittman (pictured above) is a perfect 8-for-8 this season when stealing bases, which is good enough to rank him second in the conference.

FAU has outscored opponents 28-7 in the sixth inning this season and is 12-2 when leading after the sixth frame.

South Alabama will pose a strong test for the Owls, but coach McCormack is optimistic heading into the weekend.

“They got a good thing going out there. They are 22-4 and doing great,” McCormack said. “We’ll see what happens.”
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FAU Defeats #24 South Alabama 6-3 in Game One of Series

Game One Final:

USA 3 FAU 6





Florida Atlantic continued their winning ways Friday night taking down No. 24 South Alabama 6-3 at home.

The win gave the Owls (17-9, 5-2) their fourth straight victory - matching their longest streak of the season - and second win over a ranked opponent. The loss was the first in six outings for the Jaguars (22-5, 5-2), as they didn’t score a run after the opening frame of the game.

"Winning the game is how I wanted to start the weekend," head coach John McCormack said.

Austin Gomber had an up and down performance, allowing a three-run home run in first, before firing six scoreless innings.

Outfielder Tyler Rocklein (pictured above, on the right) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to cut into the Jaguar's lead before the Owls would string together a pair of runs in the second.

Catcher Levi Meyer would hit a single to score a runner, as first baseman Mark Nelson would follow the at-bat with a single of his own.

"I thought we played great. The biggest part of the game was the answer in the first. We answered right back and were able to get two the next inning," McCormack said.

FAU added two more runs in the sixth courtesy of a line drive hit from Nathan Pittman, while Gomber continued to work his way through the opposing lineup. South Alabama would load the bases in the top of the sixth inning, but Gomber was able to leave the situation without a run on the board.

"Gomber… you can't say enough about him. There were a couple of times when you were like 'oh here we go, they swing the bats well' - but he did great tonight," McCormack said.

The Owls have now outscored opponents 30-7 in the sixth inning, as they continue to dominate the frame.

Gomber (3-1) picked up the win, tossing seven innings while striking out six batters. Hugh Adams and Kevin Alexander combined in relief, as Adams secured his seventh save of the year.

Nelson extended his hit streak to eight games and went 1-for-2 with two walks. Pittman finished the night 3-for-4 with a run batted in and a run scored. Mitch Morales hit his fourth double of the year and went 2-for-4 while Rocklein’s home run was fifth of the season.

The teams will meet Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. for the second game of the series.
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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

Can anyone confirmed this as being true? Someone said that 2011 MLB postseason MVP David Freese was at our baseball stadium last night with coach Schnellenberger.
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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

USMCOWL said

Can anyone confirmed this as being true? Someone said that 2011 MLB postseason MVP David Freese was at our baseball stadium last night with coach Schnellenberger.

Humm, not sure, but coach was there.
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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

USMCOWL said

Can anyone confirmed this as being true? Someone said that 2011 MLB postseason MVP David Freese was at our baseball stadium last night with coach Schnellenberger.

Picture of him with Coach S. on the "other" site if you want to see him. He is a S. Bama alum, so sorry he had to see them lose game 1 - NOT!
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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

Freese was there. Not sure the relevance of the picture with Howard, but hey whatever works.

South Alabama has a bunch of guys in the big leagues.
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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

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Re: Series Thread: #24 South Alabama @ FAU - Mar 29-31, 2013

Now I know who has the power. Didn't know you could do that.
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