What : FAU (6-5) vs. FIU (8-5) When : March 8th 6:30 PM Boca Raton | March 9th 5:00 PM Miami | March 10th Noon Boca Raton | April 16th 6:00 PM Miami Where : FAU Baseball Stadium | FIU Baseball Stadium Video : FAU TV | ESPN+ Live Stats : Here FIU Team Site : Here Series : Owls lead 80-53 all-time against the Panthers. Won 13 of last 17 since 2021. Projected Starting Pitchers : FAU – RHP CJ Williams (2-0, 4.24 ERA) FIU – RHP Logan Runde (1-1, 3.75 ERA) FAU – LHP Trey Beard (1-1, 2.84 ERA) FIU – RHP Owen Puk (0-1, 24.30 ERA) FAU – RHP Tyler Murphy (1-0, 2.00 ERA) FIU – RHP Joel Pineiro (2-0, 1.23 ERA) FAU – TBA FIU – TBA Owl Notables Unintentionally getting extra rest, especially with their matchup against No. 4 Florida being postponed to April 30th, may have been a good thing for the Owls. Last week saw up and down form from the team as they took back-to-back losses to UCF and UNF before winning two of three against D1 youngling Stonehill. They had a hard time hitting against the Skyhawks’ solid bullpen until they exploded for 15 runs in the seventh inning (the second highest single inning run total in program history) to secure the tiebreaker this past Sunday. Among the consistent hitters for FAU, Spencer Rich stands out the most. He is on a nine-game hitting streak, firing away a grand slam for the team’s first of the year as he leads the Owls in hits with 18, total bases with 28, and stolen bases with six. The starting pitchers during the weekends continue to shine for the Owls, particularly CJ Williams. He played a key role in helping FAU shut out Stonehill last Friday, striking out a career-high nine batters in seven innings throughout the matchup. He will look to maintain his excellent form this weekend against FIU. A pitcher from the bullpen who has been astounding as a reliever is Danny Trehey. Getting six strikeouts in three innings last Saturday against the Skyhawks, he hasn’t allowed a run in 9.1 innings this season as he seems to have massively improved from last season. Keep an eye on him when he checks in to relieve one of the starting pitchers. Jalen DeBose (pictured below via Rick Henderson) could play a significant role throughout the series against FIU. Falling out of the rotation after batting 1-10 in his first three games, he has bounced back by hitting .667 against Stonehill to get 4 RBI. It is possible that head coach John McCormack will continue tinkering with the lineup until starting first baseman Mike La Rocca returns from injury and the batting unit, aside from Rich, Brando Leroux, and John Schroeder, finds their rhythm against opponents on a game-by-game basis. The Owls stay home as they host in-state rival Miami on March 12th at 6:30 PM. The game will be broadcast on FAU TV. The starters (in non-batting order) for game one could be that of the below: RF Jake Millan or John Schroeder CF Spencer Rich LF Jalen DeBose or Carter Brady 1B Emilio Gonzalez or Jake Millan 2B Christian Adams 3B Patrick Ward DH Emilio Gonzalez or Dylan LaPointe SS Brando Leroux C John Schroeder or Andrew McKenna P CJ Williams Panther Notables Off to a decent start with wins over Long Island, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, and Seton Hall, FIU presents themselves as a solid challenge for the Owls to take on. They have a tendency to score plenty of runs in their games. They already passed 100 in just 13 games by averaging 7.69 throughout each contest. Brylan West leads the team with 15 runs alongside a team-best .419 average, Jeff Liquori is the runner-up with 12, and three of their teammates have 10 each. An area they have done very well in is hitting balls out of the park, having 21 home runs so far this season. Kishon Frett spearheads the homers with five, Liquori comes next with four, while West and two others follow with three each. Preventing them from getting easy balls to swing at would be key to the Owls’ bullpen prevailing against FIU’s batting unit. FAU batters should be careful facing against FIU’s Joel Pineiro on the mound Sunday afternoon. After being riddled with injuries throughout last season, he has regained his form this year. Pineiro has been the most effective starting pitcher on the team with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings, only allowing two earned runs in the process. After this matchup, the Panthers return to Miami as they host FGCU on March 13th at 6:00 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
