SERIES THREAD: FAU vs. WKU - April 19th-21st, 2019
What: Florida Atlantic (25-11, 12-3 C-USA) at Western Kentucky University (17-17-1, 8-6-1 C-USA)
When: Friday, April 19th @ 4:00pm
Saturday, April 20th @ 2:00pm
Sunday: April 21st @ 2:00pm
Where: Nick Denes Stadium
Series Record: FAU will face the Hilltoppers for the 40th time in their history holding a 27-12 edge.
Video: CUSA.tv
Live Stats: Here
WKU Team Site: Here
Projected Starting Pitchers:
Friday
FAU - Blake Sanderson, R-Sr. RHP (7-1, 3.51)
WKU - Reece Calvert, R-Sr. RHP (1-3, 5.18)
Saturday
FAU - Mike Ruff, Jr. RHP (4-1, 5.05)
WKU - Troy Newell, Sr. LHP (2-3, 6.75)
Sunday
FAU - TBD
WKU - TBD
Owls at a glance
Although the Owls fell to LA Tech in two games this past weekend, they still remain first in C-USA with a 12-3 conference record as they approach the halfway mark of their 2019 C-USA campaign.
Currently, the Owls are ranked #27 in both the Collegiate Baseball & NCBWA polls, falling from their #24 position after their series loss to LA Tech last weekend.
FAU won their midweek matchup against UCF with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday thanks to a 6th inning rally. Senior Andru Summerall had his second home run in as many games to begin the comeback after the Owls trailed 2-0 early.
The Owls' bullpen has been on fire as of late, giving up just two runs in their game against UCF. The pitching staff currently has a season ERA of 4.00, which is the lowest in the conference.
Blake Sanderson (7-1) will make his 9th appearance on the mound this Friday, after getting his 1st loss of the season last week in Game 1 of the LA Tech series. Sanderson pitched 7.0 innings of work, giving up just 4 runs on 7 hits, but wasn't able to find any offensive support.
After their series against the Hilltoppers, the Owls will travel to Gainesville for a midweek matchup against the Gators, before returning to Boca to host Old Dominion.
Hilltoppers at a glance
Winners of two straight, Western Kentucky is also coming off a win in their midweek game over Belmont and a high-scoring victory over Marshall. Before that stretch, the Hilltoppers dropped six of seven, including a sweep against rival Middle Tennessee.
The team is currently ranked fifth in C-USA with an 8-6-1 record, sitting just below Middle Tennessee. The tie came against Charlotte at the end of March.
The Hilltoppers have a breakout offensive star in JUCO transfer Jake Sanford, who currently leads the conference in slugging pct. (.844), hits (56), home runs(16), RBI’s(49), and runs scored (45).
This weekend could be an situation where the 'Toppers look too far ahead of them, as the Kentucky Wildcats make a trip to Bowling Green later this week. After the in-state tilt, WKU will travel to San Antonio to take on an inconsistent, yet dangerous UTSA ball club.
Toppers Coach John Pawlowski has announced that starting 1B Richard Constantine will be out been for the rest of the season after a foot injury suffered on Tuesday against Belmont.
Constantine had a team leading .413 batting average in his 25 games played on the year and was second to Sanford in homers with 5 and 20 RBI in just 63 at bats.
Weather permitting, #FAU is about a half hour away from 1st pitch in game one in their series against #WKU. Blake Sanderson is on the bump this afternoon making his 9th start of the season. #GoOwls!— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 19, 2019
The Owls lead 3-0 after playing some great offense with a pair of RBI's from Summerall and Pages.
#FAU starts this game out hot as they take a 3-0 lead over #WKU heading into the bottom of the 1st inning.— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 19, 2019
The Owls added another run to the board in the top of the 3rd and held the Hilltoppers in the bottom of the inning. #FAU now leads 4-0— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 19, 2019
UPDATE: Tonight's game has been called as is, and will resume tomorrow at 2pm EST. Game 2 will be played after the conclusion of game 1 tomorrow evening, weather permitting. The Owls lead 4-1.— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 19, 2019
Local Owl said
This is a series we must sweep. Nothing affects a series more than a Friday rain out or delay. Time for our young arms to come in and save the weekend.Posted On: Apr 20th 2019, 6:43 AM #386002
We're surely going to see how well those young arms can do with this sticky double header situation today.
Owls and Hilltoppers return to the diamond to finish Game One after it was called last night due to weather.
#FAU Baseball is back underway, resuming Game one vs. #WKU with Dylan O'Connell on the mound.
— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 20, 2019
Owls lead 4-1 in the fifth inning
The good news is that we were able to retake the lead in the next inning thanks to some timely hits.
A three-run homer tied the game for
— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 20, 2019#WKU in the fifth, but the Owls retake the lead thanks to a sac-fly from Montes and an RBI single from Nizza.#FAU leads 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth.
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