SERIES THREAD: Rutgers vs #16 FAU - Mar 11th - 13th, 2016
Who: No. 16 Florida Atlantic (11-1) vs. Rutgers (5-6)
Friday 3/11 @ 6:30 PM
FAU: RHP David McKay (2-1, 4.40 ERA, 14.1 IP, 9 H, 22 K, 4 BB)
RU: LHP Howie Brey (1-2, 2.84 ERA, 19 IP, 20 H, 17 K, 5 BB)
Saturday 3/12 @ 4:00 PM
FAU: LHP Brandon Rhodes (3-0, 0.90 ERA, 20 IP, 14 H, 10 K, 3 BB)
RU: Kyle Driscoll (0-2, 5.02 ERA, 19 IP, 15 H, 8 K, 13 BB)
Sunday 3/13 @ 12:00 PM
FAU: RHP Marc Stewart (2-0, 0.50 ERA, 18 IP, 11 H, 8 K, 5 BB)
RU: John O’Reilly (0-1, 5.27 ERA, 13.2 IP, 15 H, 6 K, 5 BB)
Notes
Florida Atlantic won its fifth series of the season, defeating Saint Joseph's 2-0 in midweek action. Just previously the Owls took care of business against Georgetown 2-1. In their only loss on the season Friday night, the Owls' offense scored eight runs in the ninth inning against the Hoyas and had the tying run in scoring position before falling, 13-11.
Junior SS CJ Chatham (pictured above) hit .550 (11-of-20) for the span which included seven runs scored, three doubles, a triple, home run, and five RBI. Chatham has now reached safely in 31 of his last 32 games, and is currently leading Florida Atlantic in extra base hits with seven (5 2B, 13B , 1 HR).
Senior RHP Brandon Rhodes dealt a complete-game, two-hit shutout of the Hoyas on Saturday in the longest outing of his career. Rhodes struck out four batters in the contest and gave up just one hit after the second inning before he turned a double-play to get the runner off the bases. Rhodes is now 3-0 on the year with a 0.90 ERA.
Collectively, the Florida Atlantic pitching staff owns an ERA of 2.08, and is holding opponents to a .220 average while the defense has a fielding percentage of .981 with 15 double plays turned.
Entering year two in the Big Ten, Rutgers baseball looks to make an impact with a roster mixed with established veterans and talented freshmen.
Rutgers returns 20 letterwinners this season, including five seniors, and adds 12 newcomers. The roster is made up of 34 players from New Jersey, two from Pennsylvania and one from Florida.
Last time out on Wednesday, the Scarlet Knights picked up a 13-8 win over Iona. Nine different players picked up a hit, with fifth-year senior Chris Suseck, junior Gaby Rosa and freshman Jawuan (Jay) Harris each having two. Harris was a former FAU Football commit before flipping to Rutgers where he is a two sport athlete.
Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.), currently on a 10-game on-base and six-game hitting streak, continues to pace the Big Ten and ranks 16th nationally with a .587 on-base percentage. He also is second in the league with 10 walks, tied for third with 12 runs and fifth with a .406 batting average.
LHP Howie Brey (1-2, 28.4 ERA) is the leader of the pitching staff, and a Big Ten Player to Watch, bringing 50 games of experience on the mound with 24 starts. The left-hander led the team with 80.2 innings and 56 strikeouts last year.
Starting lineup for @FAU_Baseball with McKay on mound vs Rutgers at 6:30 pic.twitter.com/s3HSJe3C1m
— Mike Brown (@MLBBoca) March 11, 2016
COMEBACK CITY! #FAU scores 4 in 9th for THE WIN! Labsan 3-4, HR & 3RBI. Lashley 2-4 & 2RBI. Owls 4 BB final frame👍 pic.twitter.com/QsecRMLSBm
— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 12, 2016
UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2016 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
#FAU moves to 12-1 with the victory and will return to play Sat at 4:00 PM for G2 of Series with Rhodes (0.90 ERA) on The Mound. #GoOwls!
— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) March 12, 2016
@FAU_Baseball pic.twitter.com/m2BJIVqGgE
— McCrae (@FratMacman) March 12, 2016
Kerr, Puerta, Labsan, and Lashley all had multiple hits, with Kerr hitting 2 2B and Lashley one, and Labsan with a 3-hit night including a 2-run monster of a home run. Dicks reached twice on walks, and Langham reached twice with a 1B and a walk, scoring both times. Swan was really impressive, and O'Connell needed only 4 pitches to get us back to the plate for the bottom of the 9th. It was a great move to bring him in at that point, both to shut down Rutgers, and, more importantly, to reinforce that the game was not over.
Recent Forum Posts
Owls look for payback in series finale against UCF What…
The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of…
This was a really bad season for the AAC. A ton of excellent t…
American Athletic Conference Baseball Awards Release - March 1…
FAU needs to triple is athletics budget to even sniff moving u…