FAU Vs Wichita St. preview
Softball postseason action will commence for FAU Friday afternoon, as following the double bye the Owls will be back in action and taking on Wichita State at 3:30 pm est, with a spot in the AAC championship on the line. FAU is fresh off their best regular season since 2016, finishing with a 41-13 record, and although Wichita State finished 27-21 on the year, they are peaking at the right time, as they are currently on a 6-game win streak dating back to 4/27 against UNT.
Wichita State defeated UTSA 13-0 on Wednesday and clinched their spot in the AAC quarterfinals with a resounding comeback victory in round 2 against Tulsa. The shocks were trailing 8-4 heading into the bottom of the 5th, before plating 7 on Tulsa, capped off by a go-ahead grand slam from Addison Barnhart, which made it 11-8 and set the shockers soaring into the quarterfinals round.
FAU is also fresh off a momentum boost from Tulsa, as the Owls swept the Golden Hurricane in 3 to conclude the regular season and had a comeback effort of their own. The Owls were trailing 7-1 in the 6th inning on Friday before capitalizing 4 straight times with runners in scoring position to end the game, eventually winning 8-7 on a walk-off walk drawn by Kylie Hammonds.
To close out the year, FAU went on to win the final 2 games of that series by a combined score of 14-4 and were backed by dominant pitching both from their starters and out of the bullpen. Trinity Schlotterbeck and Gabby Sacco both went 4 innings allowing 2 runs each, and those 2 runs were the only runs in each of the final 2 games for Tulsa, as Ainsley Lambert fooled the Golden Hurricane bats, pitching 6 innings over 2 games, only allowing 1 hit while striking out 5.
FAU currently leads the All-time series against Wichita State 4-1 and during the regular season, these squads faced off in a 3-game series which the Owls won 2-1. Kam Jackson was an X-factor for FAU in that series as she went 5/7, including 4/6 in games 1 & 2 with 5 RBIs before being walked 3 times in game 3. Ainsley Lambert was a focal point in the doubleheader as well, as she pitched in relief in both games, getting the win in game one with 2.2 scoreless innings. In game 2, Wichita State tagged her with back-to-back home runs in the late innings, including one from Addison Barnard who is currently 6/7 with 5 home runs & 11 RBIs in the AAC tourney.
Game 3 was the Trinity Schlotterbeck spectacle, as she homered in the first inning, capping off a 5 run first inning for FAU, and after Gabby Sacco gave up 3 and was unable to record an out in the bottom half, she came on in relief and retired the side. Schlotterbeck went on to homer twice more in that game, and also pitched 5 innings of relief, only giving up 2 and striking out 3, leading the Owls to a 17-5 victory.
For FAU, they are heading into this matchup riding momentum, having won 8 of their last 9 and finding ways to get timely hitting by feeding off consistent pitching both from their starters and bullpen.
Gabby Sacco has been a Friday night starter this year, but so has Schlotterbeck and considering the success Trinity had against Wichita State in their last matchup, the all conference pitcher could potentially be in line to start tomorrow afternoon. On the year Schlotterbeck has a 3.25 era, struck out 36 batters over 64.2 innings while walking 29, and pitched 4 complete games. If the Owls can get quality innings from their starter, that will set them up for Lambert who although struggled in one game against Wichita State, has been dominant recently and really all year, pitching to a 1.75 ERA over 48 innings with 5 saves, while striking out 57 and only walking 17.
With Presley Leebrick, Kam Jakson, Trinity Schlotterbeck, Kiley Channell, and Jesiana Mora all currently hitting above .330 on the year, FAU has the ability to get timely hitting when they need it and not be over aggressive at the plate. It will be important for the Owls to find a way to feed off their pitching early in this game and get those timely hits in the early innings to capitalize on early run opportunities when available.
For Wichita State, Barnard is tearing up the tournament so far and has been consistent all year, batting. 396 with 23 home runs and 46 RBIs. CC Wong has been the offensive catalyst for the shockers however, as she’s batting .473 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs.
On the mound, Chloe Barber has been their do it all type player as she’s started 17 games and came out of the Bullpen in 9, and she currently has a 9-5 record with a 3.24 ERA. She threw 106 pitches over 6.1 innings on Thursday, and most likely would only be available on Friday in a limited capacity
Assuming she will be unable to go on Friday, Alison Cooper who pitched 3.1 shutout innings against UTSA on Wednesday would be next up. Cooper, who has started 8 games this season, currently has a 4.10 era and a 6-8 record on the season.
Both of these teams come in red hot which creates the potential for a fun matchup, however Wichita State is attempting to win their 3rd game in as many days currently and that may create some fatigue, especially in the pitching department. With FAU coming in off the double bye and well rested, it will be interesting to see if that plays to their advantage with the Shockers lack of rest, or if the break in action cools them off.
Wichita State will not be looking to let the home faithful down, and so even if there is some fatigue on their end, expect a hard-fought battle between these two conference foes.