What: Florida Atlantic vs South Florida
When: May 9th @ 6:30 PM | May 10th @ 4:00 PM | May 11th @ 12:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Stats: Stats Broadcast
FAU – LHP Trey Beard (7-0, 2.50 ERA)
USF – LHP Corey Braun (6-2, 3.15 ERA)
FAU – RHP Nick Wimberly (1-0, 2.77 ERA)
USF – RHP Austin Newton (0-3, 7.24 ERA)
FAU – RHP James Litman (3-3, 5.18 ERA)
USF – RHP Jack Nedrow (5-2, 3.47 ERA)
Owls Notables
Florida Atlantic (32-16, 12-9 AAC) is finally coming home for a weekend series against Sunshine State opponent South Florida (25-21, 12-9 AAC). The Owls are flying high coming off a weekend where FAU won their series over Tulane, and now sit second in the American.
The weekend series against the Bulls is a decisive one as the winner will most likely be alone in 2nd place entering the final week of play. The middle of the pack in the conference is tight. Five teams sit within one game of each other from second through sixth. First place is all but UTSA’s if the Roadrunners win one game over the weekend.
On the other side of the coin is a bittersweet weekend for many as Senior Day will take place on Saturday. 11 Owls will touch the diamond for the last time over the next week, and it will be one many will want to remember. Especially with a win.
The weekend hosts, FAU, are second in batting and pitching in the American.
Offensively, Florida Atlantic is slashing .297/.399/.459. Only behind UTSA, the .297 BA is .016 points better than Tulane. It’s clearly a gap between the top three, and Florida Atlantic’s offense proves that.
While three Owls have a batting average above .300, one stands out among the rest. John Schroeder has put together an expected, dominant season. The Senior Outfielder is sixth in the conference in RBI’s and leads the Owls with 44. Five of those RBIs came against Tulane in FAU’s series clinching win last Saturday. In big moments, #10 shows up. Expect him to show up in clutch times this weekend as well.
On the mound, FAU is looking to bounce back. The arms had a forgettable weekend in NOLA and look to turn it around. The Owls are pitching a 4.50 ERA overall this season.
RHP Tyler Murphy will not be available over the weekend so RHP Nick Wimberly will be the Saturday starter. Wimberly has started two midweek games this season and has only allowed two runs in his previous five appearances. Saturday may look more like a bullpen game, but Wimberly can pitch with the best of them.
Another arm that has done well for Florida Atlantic is RHP Steven Andrews. Andrews, like Wimberly, has put on a solid past two weeks. In the Floridian’s past 4.1 innings pitched he has struck out four and allowed only two hits. Expect a bigger role for the Senior.
Coach McCormack has been making changes in many contests, but expect these nine names to be the main starters for the Owls.
Projected Starters
C Ayden Garcia/Dylan LaPointe (Alternating Starts)
1B Jake Millan
2B John Martinez
SS Brando Leroux
3B Nick Romano
RF Danny Baez
CF Marshall Lipsey
LF John Schroeder
Next, Florida Atlantic will play their final home game next Tuesday against FGCU.
USF Notables
South Florida is entering the weekend on a high of momentum. After being swept by the Roadrunners over the weekend, the Bulls defeated the Florida Gators 7-1 on Tuesday night. While midweek games late in the season are always odd, a 7-1 victory over an SEC team is always a big deal.
The Bulls are slashing .275/.373/.416. USF sits middle of the road in offensive numbers at fifth in the American.
On the mound, South Florida sits sixth in the AAC with a 5.52 ERA. In USF’s previous six conference contests, the Bulls have allowed at least five runs in half of them. Opponents are also batting .260 against their arms.
USF has four batters with an average above .300. Two of those names are Marcus Brodil and Ryan Pruitt. Brodil leads the team in average with a .338 clip, while Pruitt leads the Bulls in hits with 55. First baseman Sebastian Greico leads the Bulls in home runs and RBIs. Expect the senior to be a name heard at least once if a ball is hit over the blue outfield walls.