What: Florida Atlantic vs UTSA
When: March 28th 7:00 PM | March 29th 5:00 PM | March 30th 2:00 PM
Where: Roadrunner Field
Video: ESPN+
Stats: Stats Broadcast
Projected Pitchers
FAU – LHP Trey Beard (4-0, 1.91 ERA)
UTSA – RHP Zach Royse (1-3, 5.40 ERA)
FAU – RHP Tyler Murphy (2-1, 4.45 ERA)
UTSA – Braylon Owens (4-1, 4.58 ERA)
FAU – RHP James Litman (2-0, 2.60 ERA)
UTSA – Myles Conor (2-1, 3.75 ERA)
Owls Notables
Florida Atlantic enters the weekend with an AAC series win under their belt after meeting with Rice in Paradise. FAU has a 19-6 record and is 2-1 in conference play this season. Sadly for the Owls, their midweek contest against FGCU did not treat them well as FAU fell 3-2. The good news, a bounce back in San Antonio would be a pickup of momentum for the remainder of the road trip.
Offensively, FAU is slashing .312 BA/.912 OBS/.432 OB%, while the pitching staff owns a 3.81 ERA and has allowed a .237 BA. Alternatively, Florida Atlantic is second in batting average in the conference and first in pitching when it comes to ERA. Those numbers mean the Owls can rely on one or the other if ever needed.
In the batters box, John Martinez has put together a superb performance. Slashing .367 BA/.971 OPS/.427 OB% the Redshirt Freshman has forced his way into a leadership role early this season. While his production was slowed during his first weekend of conference play, he added an RBI in the Owls’ Friday win over Rice.
A 2-11 performance came out of the opening conference series, but the infielder has shown his bat can be hot no matter what.
The Sunday starter, James Litman, will look to keep his performance going out of last weekend. The Freshman put on a show pitching five innings, allowing only one run, and gaining six strikeouts. The statistical swing comes only two weeks after his five runs given up against Bradley two weekends ago. Although it will be a hot Roadrunners squad in the box, Litman should be able to quiet the bats come Sunday.
The lineup for Coach McCormack has gone unchanged, but the Owls will be without Kyle Boylston’s hot bat coming off the bench or starting in the outfield. The two-sport athlete will stay in Boca Raton as he will be a part of Spring practice and scrimmaging with FAU football.
Projected Starters
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 face off against FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida.
UTSA Notables
The Roadrunners lead the AAC in batting average with a .322 clip. On the season, UTSA owns a 20-7, 2-1 AAC record, and has ranked wins over Texas A&M, Texas, and Dallas Baptist.
The conference leading team in hitting has proven their offense is a beast, but have been lackadaisical from the mound.
The Roadrunners pitching unit has a 5.07 ERA, but its reliance on the bats has made pitching something not to worry about. If FAU can keep the scoring low, then it should be a favorable outcome for the Owls.
UTSA has six batters with a BA above .300. Leading the way is Mason Lytle. Lytle owns a 1.078 OPS and has put up 34 RBIs. Following Lytle, Drew Detlefsen and Andrew Stucky are batting .362 and .361 respectively. The three Roadrunners listed are top-ten in the American in batting average.
As of late, UTSA has owned the series. The previous two weekend meetings have been all Roadrunners as UTSA is 5-1 against the Owls in those series. A matchup between the top two offenses in the conference should be a good one out in Texas.