What : FAU (12-10, 0-3) vs. Middle Tennessee (11-9, 2-1) When : Fri, March 24th @ 6:30 PM Sat, March 25th @ 4:00 PM Sun, March 26th @ 12:00 PM Where : FAU Baseball Stadium Video : C-USA TV Live Stats : Here MTSU Team Site : Here Series : Owls have a 26-16 advantage against the Blue Raiders. Projected Starting Pitchers : MTSU – RHP Patrick Johnson (1-0, 3.52 ERA) FAU – LHP Hunter Cooley (2-3, 4.60 ERA) MTSU – RHP Jaden Hamm (3-1, 3.03 ERA) FAU – RHP Jacob Josey (2-2, 3.76 ERA) MTSU – RHP Eriq Swan (1-4, 5.48 ERA) FAU – TBD Owl Notables FAU fell back down to earth to begin conference play this season. The Owls suffered a three-game sweep on the road to UTSA getting outscored 20-7, and then fell 10-5 to #17 Miami in Coral Gables after holding a 4-0 lead in the first inning with three straight home runs. Despite these struggles, there could be a sense of optimism for junior catcher Caleb Pendleton (pictured). He is batting .400 in his last three games and finally launched his first home run of the season against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Junior outfielder Nolan Schanuel continues to be in a solid rhythm for the Owls. Batting .462 this past week against UTSA and Miami, he too fired away a homer against the latter opponent for his ninth of the year which ties him for 14th in the country. Not only does his .458 batting average for the season place him in the top 10 (8th) of the nation, he also has the second best on-base percentage with .604. Dylan Goldstein’s hitting streak remains untouched. The junior outfielder extended it to eight this past week after batting .429 against the Roadrunners and Hurricanes, getting his fourth home run of the season against the latter. The starters (in non-batting order) for game one should be that of the below: RF Jake Millan CF Jalen DeBose LF Dylan Goldstein 1B Nolan Schanuel 2B Daulton Frank 3B Jackson Ross DH Mitchell Hartigan SS Armando Albert C Caleb Pendleton P Hunter Cooley Blue Raider Notables Middle Tennessee got themselves a decent start in C-USA play. They won their first series against Western Kentucky taking two of the three contests, and beat Tennessee Tech 13-5 on the road to be winners of four in their last five. They averaged 13.75 hits per game against the Hilltoppers and the Golden Eagles, having the 44th most hits in the country with 217 this season. JT Mabry stands out as the Blue Raiders’ best batter. Even though he only has one home run to his name, he is hitting .418 for the season (tied-61st in the country) and leads the team in hits with 33 (tied-45th in the nation). The Blue Raider pitcher FAU should be most careful with is Jaden Hamm. Starting Saturday afternoon, Hamm is one of the best pitchers in the country when it comes to striking out opposing batters. He has 41 for the season, tying him for 15th nationally. Following the conclusion of this series, Middle Tennessee will head to Huntsville for a one-off contest against Alabama Tuesday evening before hosting three games against FIU.
