Owls Face USM in a Battle for First Place



What: Florida Atlantic (30-14, 15-6) @ Southern Miss (30-13, 17-4)

When: Friday, May 3rd @ 7pm EST
           Saturday, May 4th @ 3pm EST
           Sunday, May 5th @ 2pm EST


Where: Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field

Series: Southern Miss holds a 10-7 all time advantage over the Owls


Video: CUSA.tv *FEE

Stats: Here

Southern Miss Team Site: Here


Projected Starting Pitchers:

Friday

FAU - Blake Sanderson, R-Sr. RHP (7-2, 3.67)
USM - Walker Powell, Jr. RHP. (5-2, 3.02)

Saturday

FAU - Mike Ruff, Jr. RHP (4-3, 6.29)
USM - Cody Carroll, Jr. RHP (2-0, 3.32)

Sunday

FAU - TBA
USM - TBA


Game Notes

Owls

Last weekend, the Owls dropped the first two of three games against Old Dominion. Despite losing the series, the Owls looked impressive in a huge comeback in Sunday's game versus the Monarchs.

This was followed up with a big 11-5 win over in-state rival FGCU. Joe Montes and Bobby Morgensen combined for 8 RBIs in the win over the Eagles which improved FAU's record over a .66 win percentage. The victory was the Owls' sixth straight midweek win in a row.

Despite dropping their last conference series, the Owls still continue to put up impressive numbers compared to the rest of C-USA. Currently, FAU is atop the conference in hits (461), RBI (280), and home runs (43), second in combined batting average (.295), runs scored (301), fielding percentage (.974) and putouts (1212).

Eric Rivera continue to be the workhorse offensively for the Owls as his 40 runs scored and 63 hits put him in sixth and second place in C-USA respectively.

It should be noted the FAU's ace Blake Sanderson has been a roller coaster as of late. Last time out, "Sandy" gave up 4 runs on 9 hits. Albeit, his 7 strikeouts were impressive considering he only saw 5.0 innings of action. Yet in the WKU series the weekend before, Sanderson earned a pair of wins as he pitched into a rain delay Friday night and came on for an inning of relief Sunday afternoon.

After this series, the Owls will travel to Texas to play Sam Houston State, University of Houston. The Owls will end their road trip to the Lone Star State against high-scoring UTSA.


Golden Eagles

Southern Miss gets set to play host to FAU after winning their ninth straight game. The latest was a 5-3 victory over nationally ranked Ole Miss. The upset over the Rebels came on the heels of a pair of  sweeps against Middle Tennessee and Charlotte.

USM's last series loss was against FIU in Miami, where they lost two of three.

The Golden Eagles enter the weekend as the top team in the conference, with a two game lead over the Owls.

Bryant Bowen paces the hitters with a .362 avg, and along with teammate Hunter Slater, has 9 home runs on the year. Matt Wallner has 14 HR this season, joining both Slater and Bowen as the team’s top run producers.

The team's Friday night pitcher is Walker Powell, who is 5-2 this season with a 3.02 ERA, giving him the sixth lowest in the conference. However, Powell currently leads the conference in walks allowed and is fourth in runs allowed with 23 runs, 21 of which were earned runs.

Southern Miss’ .291 collective mark at the plate places them third in the conference just below FAU. However, USM's pitching staff's  3.78 ERA leads the conference with FAU falling 3 spots lower, ranked fourth with a collective avg. of 4.59.

Pretty much a must win weekend this series after last weekend's slip up.  Just dont see the committee putting us in as an at large based solely on rpi this year.   Fact of the matter here is we have lost every weekend series against teams that are above 500 this season.  Other than a couple of decent midweek wins our resume is a little weak.  We gotta make a statement this weekend and catch on fire down this final stretch……. If all else fails,start saving arms for the conf tourney.  

We need to win this series . We need to hit hit and hit some more. So miss is always tough.

Couldn't agree more, y'all. We knew that this would be a big series the day the schedule was announced, and here we are.

It's almost show time in Hattiesburg!

#OwlNation during these final 15 minutes before #FAU takes on #USM in the biggest series of the regular season.

Let's do this thing boys! 👊👊 pic.twitter.com/LmtmNZFWkI

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) May 3, 2019

This is shaping up to be a pitchers duel. FAU's ace vs. the best pitching staff in the conference.

We're through one and a half innings in Hattiesburg. Neither #FAU or #USM have a run on the board, while both sides have only recorded a single hit.

😴😴😴

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) May 3, 2019

Need to win this series - period!

Go Owls!

(off to a good start)

 

Owls take the lead with just one swing of the bat! It's a small lead, but it's a lead nonetheless.

Owls draw blood first! #FAU gets on the board with a solo shot from Joe Montes! 💪💪

It's #USM's half of the third inning, with the hosts trailing the Owls 1-0.

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) May 3, 2019

Well that lead went quickly. We're tied again. Worth noting that Sandy is doing alright. He's yet to record a strikeout, but has only given up 4 hits.

And just like that, #USM equalizes with a sac-fly. We're now through the third inning as #FAU is all tied-up with the Golden Eagles at one run a piece.

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) May 3, 2019

Ouch. Less than ideal half inning for the Owls, who allow USM to take their first lead of the day.

#FAU took the lead in the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Hartigan, allowing Pages to score!

But #USM answers right back in the fifth with a pair of runs, allowing the Golden Eagles to take their first lead of the contest.

We go into the sixth inning down 3-2. C'MON BOYS!

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) May 4, 2019