By: Tobey Schulman
College Baseball Preview: Charlotte at FAU
FAU welcomes in Charlotte for their first ever conference series as part of the American Athletic Conference. FAU’s record sits at 12-7 after their initial non-conference schedule, and Charlotte holds a 10-12 record after theirs. FAU coming into this series holds wins over power five programs like Vanderbilt and Miami. Charlotte has also been battle tested, holding wins over Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Maryland in their 22 games so far this season.
Going into conference play FAU has multiple hitters over the .300 batting average threshold that have come up big for the Owls offense. John Schroeder highlights the group with a .343 batting average and 1.046 OPS. Schroeder has also tallied three home runs and a team leading 21 RBI’s.
Christian Adams and Brando Leroux are going to be key players to watch in this series as well. Adams hit a walkoff grand slam in the series last weekend against Maine, and has a .324 batting average coming into this series. Leroux is currently tied for the most hits on the roster with 23, and comes into the series with a .315 batting average.
The Owls will have C.J. Williams on the mound for them Friday afternoon, and will follow it up with Tyler Murphy on Saturday. Both starters will look to preserve their undefeated records, and continue to put together solid starts for the Owls.
The Owls pitching staff will have to put up with Thad Ector from the Charlotte offense. Ector has a team leading .353 average and 1.026 OPS. Ector will look to help the 49ers this series, and get them back on track after losing their last four games.
The Owls look to bounce back from a disappointing loss to UCF on Tuesday. They haven’t lost a series at home yet this season, and look to continue that trend as well. Last time these two teams met, FAU won the series two games to one. The Owls also lead the all time series by nine games, with a 20-11 record versus the 49ers. Although it’s a new conference for the Owls, it’s not an opponent they’re unfamiliar with in the slightest.