SERIES THREAD: St. Johns vs FAU - Feb 28 - Mar 2, 2014
What: St. Johns (1-5) at Florida Atlantic (6-2)
When: Fri, Feb 28th at 6:30 PM
Sat, Mar 1st at 4:00 PM
Sun, Mar 2nd at 1:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Audio: None
Stats: Here
Series:
Florida Atlantic has a 3-0 edge all-time against the Red Storm. FAU won the most recent meeting 5-3 on March 3, 1999 and also swept two games from St. John's in 1997.
Projected Starting Pitchers:
Fri: SJU - RHP James Lomangino (0-1, 2.25 ERA)
FAU - LHP Austin Gomber (0-2, 9.90 ERA)
Sat: SJU - RHP Ryan McCormick (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
FAU - RHP Jeremy Strawn (2-0, 1.59 ERA)
Sun: SJU - TBA
FAU - RHP Drew Jackson (1-0, 4.82 ERA)
The Owls will kick off a five game home stretch against the Red Storm on Friday and are looking for Austin Gomber (pictured) to emerge from the shadows of uncharacteristic play. Gomber (8-4, 2.97 ERA 2013) was named to the preseason All-Conference USA team but has tossed 10 innings and allowed 11 runs in the process.
Helping him to get back on track will be the struggling offense of St. Johns, which has netted only 35 hits in their six games, and only six of those being for extra bases.
If fact, Florida Atlantic, which moved to 6-2 on the year after taking a midweek game against North Florida before game two was rained out, pairs up with advantages in every offensive and pitching category against the Red Storm.
Stephen Kerr continues to lead in hitting efficiency with a team-high .440 batting average, while Levi Meyer's .367 mark and a squad best eight RBI. Kevin Alexander is sporting a 0.00 ERA out of the pen in the closer's role, and now has three saves under his belt on the season.
The Owls are 4-2 on the year at FAU baseball stadium. With the win against UNF Tuesday, the team moved to 138-4 over the last five seasons while leading after seven innings.
St. Johns is looking to recover from a 13-0 loss to Kentucky last Sunday. The Red Storm is batting just .184 through six games this season, but also also started out slow last year with a .204 average through 11 contests. They are hoping the same trend continues, as the team mark slowly rose to .320 thereafter.
SJU's lone win comes in the form of an opening day shutout against Pepperdine. Preseason All-Big East selection James Lomangino tossed five scoreless frames while three others combined to throw four more in a 2-0 victory.
Junior infielder Robert Wayman has reached base safely in all six games this season and has at least one hit in 5-of-6 games. St. John's is a young team and has had nine players make their Division I debuts this season - including four junior college transfers. A total of 11 players have made their Red Storm debuts.
The 32-man Red Storm roster includes 17 returning letter winners as well as 15 newcomers. SJU was picked to finish third in The Big East in 2014.
#FAU vs St. Johns G1 Starters: SS Morales, 2B Kerr, RF Sanger, LF Rocklein, 1B Santiago, DH Labsan, C Meyer, 3B Chatham, CF Endris.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) February 28, 2014
M1 Gomber gives up a pair of hits, but only one run. SJU out to an early 1-0 lead over #FAU.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) February 28, 2014
E1 Three up and three down for the Owls (K, Lineout, Flyout). SJU 1 #FAU 0.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) February 28, 2014
M2 Gomber settles in and serves up his own 1-2-3 effort.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) February 28, 2014
E2 Owls rally for two runs with two outs. Labsan reaches via error, later scores off Chatham's RBI DBL. Endris plates Chatham SJU 1 #FAU 2.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 1, 2014
M3 Here's the man we have been waiting for. Gomber is wheeling and dealing. 1-2-3, go have a seat. SJU 1 #FAU 2.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 1, 2014
E3 #FAU roughs up SJU for FOUR runs. Labsan (2RBI) sends one deep to right for Owls 2nd HR of 2014. Rocklein, Santiago ea RBI. SJU 1 #FAU 6.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 1, 2014
M4 Nothing doing for the Red Storm. Gomber issues K's number 3 & 4 for the night. SJU 1 #FAU 6. Lomangino still on the hill for St. Johns.
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 1, 2014
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