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SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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What:      Middle Tennessee (19-16, 5-7) at Florida Atlantic (22-11, 8-4)

When:      Fri,  Apr 12th at 6:30 PM
                Sat, Apr 13th at 4:00 PM
                Sun, Apr 14th at 12:00 PM

Where:    FAU Baseball Stadium

Audio:      Here

Stats:      Here


Series:      The Owls lead 12-11 and took two of three from the Blue Raiders last season in Murfreesboro.


Projected Starting Pitchers:

Fri:          MTSU - LHP Johnathan Frebis (4-3, 3.21 ERA)
              FAU - LHP Austin Gomber (4-1, 2.19 ERA)

Sat:        MTSU - RHP Hunter Adkins (4-3, 3.96 ERA)
              FAU - RHP Jeremy Strawn (2-2, 3.70 ERA)

Sun:        MTSU - LHP Zac Curtis (4-3, 6.15 ERA)
              FAU - LHP Brandon Rhodes (3-1, 2.41 ERA)






The Owls return home to FAU Stadium to host Middle Tennessee after four straight on the road.

During that span, Florida Atlantic went .500, picking up 1-of-3 (W 8-6, L 5-8, L 4-8) against Louisiana-Monroe before handing #24 Florida Gulf Coast a lopsided 9-0 loss on Wednesday night in Fort Myers.

Wednesday's tilt featured FAU's best offensive outpouring in an inning for 2013 - a seven spot in the first - and saw four players with multiple hits. But it was not without a possible cost.

First baseman Mark Nelson (6HR, 29 RBI) was injured late in the contest (left hamstring strain) and remains questionable for the weekend. He is officially listed at day-to-day and will likely be a game time decision, although he did participate in light duty during Thursday's practice.

Should Nelson (photo above) not be able to go, C/DH Mike Spano will get the call on bag number one. The position is not new to Spano, who did play some there during his sophomore season.

The Owls recently moved up  to 4th place amongst league members in hitting with a .290 mark, edging out the Jaguars who now have their old spot. They still sit atop the conference in team ERA at 3.28 as a unit.

Freshman outfielder Brendon Sanger is on the cusp of breaking into the conference rankings, which should happen after this weekend provided his average amount of plate appearances per contest. The freshman continues to pace the Owls and improved his average to .417 after a successful week of play.

Nathan Pittman (.321) cranked out his third round tripper on the season against the Eagles last night, bringing him to within one digit of his total for last season with 22 games left in the regular season. He's never hit more than four since joining the roster, but has a solid chance to change that.

The starting rotation will get another shuffle, as Brandon Rhodes takes the hill on Sunday, and Jeremy Strawn moves to the Saturday spot. Austin Gomber (2.19 ERA, 1st SBC) will continue to lead the way under the Friday night lights.

FAU improved to 14-6 overall, and 6-1 in SBC play, at home after sweeping the Jaguars at the end of March.

The Blue Raiders got past Tennessee Tech 12-9 on Wednesday night, pounding out 14 hits and rallying from six runs down - the second time they had to do so against the Golden eagles on the year.

Trent Miller was 3-of-5 with 4RBI and CF Ryan Stephens stroked his first long ball on the season. It's no surprise since he leads the team with 27 RBI on the year.

MTSU is paced by Ryan Stephens’ .336 batting average and 19 RBI while Ryan Ford is batting .315 with 11 doubles. 3B Hank LaRue has connected on two home runs and round sout the Blue Raiders above the .300 mark with a .313 showing. Stephens is also 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.

The team’s pitching staff is led by Johnathan Frebis, Friday night’s scheduled starting pitcher, who checks in with a 4-3 record and 3.21 ERA. Hunter Adkins (4-3, 3.96 ERA) and Zac Curtis (4-3, 6.15 ERA) round out the remaining spots in the expected weekend trio.

Last weekend in conference play, Middle Tennessee enjoyed a 2-1 series victory over Arkansas-Little Rock (L 11-1, W 14-6, W 8-6). LaRue was crucial in the hitting department,  registering multiple hits in each contest and multiple RBIs in the final two games versus the Trojans.

LaRue slugged his first homer of the season season during Saturday's win, driving in a career-high four runs and crossing the plate three times. He made it back-to-back games with another long ball in Sunday’s 8-6 win, going deep for 2RBI.

MTSU is currently fifth in the standings, right behind Florida International, and are just 3-9 away from Murfreesboro.
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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

Weather is not cooperating here...storm is rolling around Boca, and the radar is showing nasty stuff in the future frames for the area.
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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013




First pitch for tonight moved to 6:45 PM.

Nelson is not in the line-up…
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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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Re: SERIES THREAD: Middle Tennessee @ FAU - Apr 12-14, 2013

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