
What: FAU (4-0) vs. USF (2-3)
When: Fri, Feb 24th @ 6:30 PM
Sat, Feb 25th @ 4:00 PM
Sun, Feb 26th @ 12:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Video: C-USA TV
Live Stats:Here
USF Team Site: Here
Series: Bulls hold a 14-3 lead over the Owls. First matchup since 2021 (6-5 USF).
Projected Starting Pitchers:
USF - RHP Tanner Mink (2.2 IP, 20.25 ERA)
FAU - LHP Hunter Cooley (1-0, 2.84 ERA)
USF - LHP Nolan Hudi (0-1, 1.93 ERA)
FAU - RHP Jacob Josey (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
USF - RHP Austin Grause (0-1, 10.80 ERA)
FAU - RHP Nicolas Del Prado (4 IP, 0.00 ERA)
Owl Notables
FAU came out the gate swinging the bats, and look like they won't stop anytime soon.
After torching Monmouth 37-12 in a three-game sweep, the Owls carried that momentum over to their first of two matchups against UCF with a dominant 13-3 victory Tuesday night at Orlando. Their combined run total of 50 has them ranking 13th in the country as one of the best offenses to start the season.
Senior infielder Jackson Ross (pictured) shined in the spotlight against UCF. He batted two-run homers twice to finish with a .750 average for a career-high 5 RBIs.

Christian Adams has had a smooth integration into the batting unit. The junior infielder tops the team with a .467 average and 9 RBIs (second-most), including a three-run home run that confirmed the Owls' blowout win over the Knights.
Junior outfielder Dylan Goldstein is contributing massively to the FAU offense. He is responsible for 10 of the team's 47 RBIs tying him for 14th nationally.
The pitchers are also off to a hot start. With Hunter Cooley (2.84 ERA) and Evan Waterbor (1.80 ERA) highlighting the bullpen with their recent performances, they are averaging 2.00 ERA per game which places them at 16th in the nation.
One player FAU has sorely missed is catcher Caleb Pendleton. He missed the first four games with a minor hand injury and will be a game-time decision for the series.
The starting lineup (in non-batting order) to begin the series should be the one shown below:
RF Dylan Goldstein
CF Spencer Rich
LF Jalen DeBose
1B Nolan Schanuel
2B Christian Adams
3B Jackson Ross
DH Mitchell Hartigan
SS Armando Albert
C John Schroeder
P Hunter Cooley
Bull Notables
USF went through some tough competition to begin the season.
After starting the year with a 8-7 upset win over 13th-ranked Maryland, they lost the next two games of that series by a combined margin of 17-6. Losing the opening matchup 6-1 against the 7th-ranked Florida Gators, they bounced back with a come-from-behind 10-9 victory after trailing 8-3 in the ninth inning to conclude the two-game encounter.
The Bulls have two players batting .400 or higher: Travis Sankovich (.474) and Bobby Boser (.467). They only have two home runs combined, but they are solid at hitting the ball with 16 of the team's 41 hits and will be hard for FAU to handle if the bullpen does not pitch well against them.
Another batter FAU should keep an eye on is Bull outfielder Drew Brutcher. He is only batting .217 to start the year but he does have two home runs while leading the team in RBIs with 5. Considering he put together 13 home runs and 40 RBIs last year, the Owls have to make sure he does not come alive against them.
Even though USF is allowing 7.8 runs per game, they do have 5 pitchers averaging 2.50 ERA or lower after playing over 4 innings (FAU has 2). Leading the bullpen is Nolan Hudi with a 1.93 ERA and 4 strikeouts so the Owls must time their swings carefully to have a great offensive night.
Following this series, the Bulls will make their way up to Tallahassee for a Wednesday matchup against Florida State on March 1.
Comments
DeBose and Schanuel striking a pose before their game against USF 😎
Here is the Starting Lineup for FAU:
RF Goldstein
CF Rich
LF DeBose
1B Schanuel
2B Adams
3B Ross
DH Hartigan
SS Albert
C Schroeder
P Cooley
Go Owls! 🦉⚾️🧢
Top 5th: FAU 0 USF 5
2 errors, a two-run homer, and a single puts the Bulls up 5. Still plenty of⏱time⏱BUT MUST RECOVER QUICKLY‼️ Go Owls!🦉⚾️🧢
FAU comes up short in the Series Opener and will look to regroup on Saturday in Game 2.
Catcher John Schroeder goes 2-3 with an RBI and GUNS DOWN two Bulls on the base path 💪
SP Hunter Cooley 6IP 9H 2ER 0BB 6K
RP Brandon Smith 3IP 2H 0R 1BB 2K
NEXT vs USF Sat 4PM Go Owls 🦉⚾️
FAU nabs the second game 8-7 in 11 innings to even the series and set up a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
The Owls took a 4-0 lead in the third only to see the Bulls rally back and tie it in the top of the 4th.
Florida Atlantic (5-1) plated three more in their next two turns, however the visitors respond in kind with the exact same performance to knot it up at 7-7 after through complete.
South Florida (3-4) intentionally walked both Spencer Rich and Caleb Pendleton to load the bases in the bottom of the 11th opting to face Dom Presto.
However Presto made them pay, as they were completely caught off guard by his perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt that plated the game winner by advancing Jackson Ross who had doubled to lead off the Owls' 11th.
Notables
John Schroeder 2RBI
Nolan Schanuel RBI
Dylan Goldstein RBI
Christian Adams RBI
SP Jacob Josey 4.2IP 7H 4ER 0BB 5K
WP Marc DeGusipe 2IP 1H 0R 1BB 3K
NEXT vs USF Sun 12PM Go Owls 🦉⚾️
Our baseball team is deep and talented.