What: Florida Atlantic vs Rice
When: March 21st 6:30 | March 22nd 4:00 PM | March 23rd 12:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Stats: Stats Broadcast
Projected Pitchers
FAU – LHP Trey Beard (3-0, 2.00 ERA)
Rice– Davion Hickson (0-2, 3.06 ERA)
FAU – RHP Tyler Murphy (2-0, 4.81 ERA)
Rice– J.D. McCracken (0-2, 7.20 ERA)
FAU – RHP James Litman (2-0, 2.78 ERA)
Rice– Tucker Alch (2-0, 3.80 ERA)
Owls Notables
FAU closed their non-conference schedule with a 17-4 record including six series wins and a seven-game winning streak that was ended Tuesday thanks to Miami. The Owls have had a great start offensively with a team batting average of .322 with a .444 OBP. The pitching staff has had their run-ins, but own a 3.95 ERA, and allowed a .237 BA to opponents.
Compared to last year’s team at this point, the Owls offensive production is in another tier. Last season’s team was batting .278 when entering conference play, while boasting only a .391 OBP.
One of the players a part of the turnaround from last year to this season is Pat Ward. After batting just .250 through non-conference play last season, the Florida native has had a hot bat heading into conference play this year. Ward is slashing .339 BA/.933 OPS/.433 OBP. The Junior INF has put himself as a leader on the team and is one of four Owls batting above .300 entering conference play.
On the mound, FAU’s pitching has stayed stagnant. The pitching staff entered conference play with a 3.97 ERA and a 12-7 record last year. This season the Owls have allowed a 3.95 ERA and an opponent average of .237.
Saturday’s projected starter, Tyler Murphy is a player who could use conference play as a way to get back on track compared to this point last year.
While Murphy has a 3-0 record, which he had at this point last year, his ERA is a 4.81. Last season he shut down most opponents with his 1.42 ERA. The starkest difference compared to last season is his opponents batting average. Murphy held opponents to a .185 batting average, but has struggled as of late as he is allowing a . 284 average. Relying on the offense has been helpful, but figuring out the pitching woes early in AAC play will help the Owls out when the heart of the season rolls around.
McCormack’s lineup has solidified its self, while catchers are still trading duties. The projected lineup for this weekend is below.
C Dylan LaPointe
1B Jake Millan
2B John Martinez
SS Brando Leroux
3B Pat Ward
RF Jake Duer
CF Marshall Lipsey
LF John Schroeder
After the weekend, Florida Atlantic will head to Fort Myers to face-off against Florida Gulf Coast.
Rice Notables
The Rice Owls have struggled as a program since 2018. Rice has not had a winning season since 2017, and enter this weekend’s series at 4-17.
Rice has had a busy week off the diamond as head coach David Pierce was hired recently this week and will be leading his Owls into battle this weekend.
The Rice Owls’ few wins were against small colleges, but a victory over USC does sit on their resume.
Since the start of the season, Rice has a .246 batting average, with a .335 OB%. On the pitching side, Rice’s arms have a combined ERA of 7.04, and a .306 opponent batting average.
The Owls’ batting average leaders are Blaine Brown and Michael Zito. Brown has an average of .314 with 11 RBIs, while Zito is batting .309 and leads Rice in BB with 10.
Rice’s defense has given up 169 runs in their 21 games played. An average of eight runs given up a game.
While Rice is a team that can be overlooked, if FAU can take care of business, it should be a good sign for the conference schedule.
