SERIES THREAD: UTSA vs #17 FAU - May 6th - 8th, 2016
Who: UTSA (15-28, 6-15) at No. 17 Florida Atlantic (30-13, 14-7)
Friday 5/6 @ 6:30 PM
FAU: RHP Marc Stewart (5-0, 3.03 ERA, 59.1 IP, 49 H, 36 K, 23 BB)
UTSA: RHP Aaron Burns (3-6, 4.79 ERA, 67.2 IP, 86 H, 35 K, 24 BB)
Saturday 5/7 @ 4:00 PM
FAU: LHP Brandon Rhodes (6-3, 4.52 ERA, 67.2 IP, 70 H, 34 K, 12 BB)
UTSA: RHP Karl Craigie (3-2, 5.36 ERA, 48.2 IP, 61 H, 29 K, 19 BB)
Sunday 5/8 @ 12:00 PM
FAU: LHP Sean Labsan (5-1, 1.32 ERA, 41 IP, 35 H, 38 K, 13 BB)
UTSA: TBA
Notes
FAU will play their second conference home series in a row this weekend after dropping a 5-2 decision to Miami in Coral Gables on Thursday in a rescheduled midweek contest. Florida Atlantic will end 2016 regular season play with a split against the currently #3 Hurricanes as the third game to be played in Boca Raton was forgone due to weather.
The Owls took the first two games of its series with No. 14 Southern Miss last weekend and are now one game out of first place in the Conference USA standings. The two victories over the Golden Eagles raised the Owls record to 5-3 against ranked opponents this season, including three wins over top five programs (Mississippi State twice and Miami once).
CJ Chatham, who registered his 6th homer of the year against Miami Thursday, hit .588 (10-for-17) with two doubles over the weekend, including a triple and a home run with a 1.000 slugging percentage. He also drove in six runs and also scored five times. On Saturday Chatham was a double shy of the cycle going 5-for-6 with five RBI and three runs.
UTSA finds themselves in a late season slump, having lost seven of their last eight contests with a 6-0 setback to Texas State at home on Tuesday in midweek action. Over the weekend, they managed to salvage a 5-4 victory over La Tech in 11 innings, after dropping the first two games.
Junior 2B C.J. Pickering had a strong series for the Roadrunners, posting multiple hits in each game and going 7-for-12 (.583) with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI. Freshman IF Bryan Arias is now leading the Roadrunners in batting at a .325 clip. He is second on the team in hits (49) and tied for the team lead with three triples.
The Roadrunners are fighting to become one of the top eight teams eligible for the 2016 Conference USA Tournament and find themselves four games in back of 8th place Marshall for the final spot. While they do have the Owls to contend with immediately, competition will lighten in their final two series against last place MTSU and Charlotte - who sits just above them.
Cooler than normal temperatures, low humidity, and clear skies will highlight the weekend's weather. Friday's contest will be in the lower 70's with Saturday and Sunday in the lower 80's.
However, this time they responded with authority, scoring four runs in the bottom of the frame to take a one run lead.
UTSA plated another run in the fifth to tie it up, but FAU(31-13, 15-7) would keep pace with a game winning Christian Dicks' homer to stay ahead for good.
Nick Swan earned the win, scattering just four hits over 3.2 innings with two strikeouts in relief of Marc Swan (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 1 K).
OWLS WIN! G1 FINAL UTSA 4 #FAU 5. Down 3-0, Owls come from behind for victory! Dicks 3-4, HR. Kerr, Labsan, Lagham, Puerta RBI. Ragsdale S.
— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) May 7, 2016
UPDATED SCHEDULE & RESULTS: 2016 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
SERIES BOOKED! G2 FINAL UTSA 5 #FAU 13 Owls bust it open with 8R 8th. Puerta 3RBI HR, 2RS. Chatham 2RBI. Rhodes 6.1IP 7H 3R 4K. WP Carr.
— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) May 7, 2016
UPDATED SCHEDULE & RESULTS: 2016 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
OWLS WIN! #FAU takes G3 3-1. UTSA scoreless final 8 INN & Owls' staff allows just 6H. Puerta 2-3 HR. Frank 2-4 2RBI pic.twitter.com/P6HqdfCxEq
— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) May 8, 2016
FAU baseball completes the sweep of the Roadrunners with a great team effort on the mound. Labsan goes three innings with two hits, and a run before sharing the rubber with Coursel (WP, 3 IP, 1H), O'connell (1.1 IP 2H), Carr (.1 IP), and Ragsdale (1.1 IP, 1H).
Frank had the game winner, a 2 RBI double that scored Lambert and Langham in the second inning. Esteban Puerta's homer later in the fourth inning completed the Owls' offense.
UPDATED SCHEDULE & RESULTS: 2016 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest
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