What : FAU (16-10, 3-3) vs. Rice (13-12, 4-2) When : Fri, March 31st @ 6:30 PM Sat, April 1st @ 3:00 PM Sun, April 2nd @ 12:00 PM Where : FAU Baseball Stadium Video : C-USA TV Live Stats : Here Rice Team Site : Here Series : The series is tied 13-13 with one draw. FAU is on an eight-game winning streak against Rice. Projected Starting Pitchers : Rice – RHP Parker Smith (1-1, 2.18 ERA) FAU – LHP Hunter Cooley (3-3, 5.20 ERA) Rice – TBD FAU – RHP Jacob Josey (3-2, 3.06 ERA) Rice – TBD FAU – RHP Dylan Oborne (0-0, 0.00 ERA) FAU Notables On a four-game winning streak, FAU is back in rhythm. FAU recently completed a three-game sweep over Middle Tennessee which saw them outscore the Blue Raiders 26-12, and swept UCF in their two-game affair following a convincing 4-2 victory Tuesday night. Junior infielder Armando Albert (pictured) had a great showing against the Knights. The shortstop batted 2-4 and brought in two RBI that proved to be crucial in FAU scoring four unanswered runs to take down UCF. Albert is second on the team in runs scored with 29, only behind junior outfielder Nolan Schanuel’s 31. Junior catcher Caleb Pendleton is worthy of praise as well, particularly against Middle Tennessee. In the series opener, Pendleton fired away two home runs for seven RBI, one of them being a grand slam to have FAU cruise to a 13-5 victory Friday night. The Owls will have Dylan Oborne starting in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Oborne made his only appearance and start in Sunday’s matchup against Middle Tennessee, where he only lasted one inning with head coach John McCormack utilizing the bullpen for the entire game. 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 Rice Notables Rice was unable to maintain a string of victories this past week. They lost two of their three games in what was a close series against UTSA. Both of their losses were decided by one run. They recovered with a 9-3 win over Lamar, but have to figure out how to be consistent on the road with a 5-5 record heading into the series against FAU. FAU has to keep an eye on infielder Connor Walsh. He is batting .306 for the season and leads the team in home runs with six and RBI with 22. Getting him out during his at-bats in the series would help FAU prevent him from creating scoring opportunities for Rice. On the pitching side, FAU needs to be cautious of Parker Smith. His ERA of 2.18 puts him at 62nd among the best pitchers in the country with his 32 strikeouts being the highest on the team. After this series, Rice will return home to Texas for a Tuesday contest against Houston before hosting a three-game matchup with Louisiana Tech over the weekend.
© 2004 BLEACHER BROTHERS MEDIA CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.