The 2025 Florida Atlantic Owls will get their season underway this upcoming Friday, February 14th. The Owls will host the Delaware Blue Hens for their first home series of the year at FAU Baseball Stadium. First pitch is currently scheduled for 6:30 PM EST.
The Owls found themselves around the middle of the pack in their first season in AAC conference play. They fell just short of the Top 5 in the conference standings, and had a 28-29 record overall with a 12-15 record in conference play. Coach McCormack’s squad will look to build off of their debut season here in 2025, where they hope to make a push for a Regional berth and a dream of a journey to Omaha.
Coach McCormack is entering his 17th year as Head Coach of the Owls. He praised the group of guys that he has on the roster this season, but also emphasized wanting to get everyone on the same page, knowing their roles to be the strongest team possible. He thought the fall season went really well, and that they were able to implement everything they needed to heading into this spring.
Season Storylines
Younger Pitching Staff
There are five total arms in the staff that are either Seniors or Graduate Students going into the 2025 season. The younger arms in the staff however look very promising. Coach McCormack touched on this younger staff heading into this spring season.
“It is a younger staff, by age and by innings. We have some sophomores that are going to play some vital roles that transferred in from other places and had the obligatory seven to ten innings. They’re young and a little inexperienced in terms of mound time, but our job is to make sure they are put in positions of success early, to make sure we can get more out of them later in the year,” McCormack said.
The Roster Is Deep!
The Owls at nearly every spot and position have depth. Each outfield and infield spot has multiple suitable candidates for each position, and multiple different starting lineups could be made to project success. The pitching staff especially has a ton of depth heading into the season. Coach McCormack touched on how this depth was missing from the staff last season.
“Last year’s pitching staff did a great job. They got off to such a great start then we just had so few bodies, it caught up to us as we got later in April and of course in May,” McCormack said.
The Owls now have a very deep staff with almost a handful of left handed pitchers to help bolster this depth. Coach McCormack looks forward to seeing the newcomers in action as well as guys like LHP Kide Adetuyi, who is coming off of Tommy John surgery from last season.
Veteran Leadership
From the batting order to the pitching staff, there are veterans of this Owls program that can help lead this group through its second season in the AAC. Both corner infield and middle infield spots are manned down by guys previously seen in Owls uniforms. Brando Leroux, Joey Slattery, Patrick Ward, Emilio Gonzalez, and Jake Millan are all familiar faces to the roster.
The outfield also features a veteran in John Schroeder, going into his fourth season with the Owls. JUCO transfer Marshall Lipsey provides a great perspective to the outfield as well. A national champion at the NJCAA level, Lipsey’s played in some very high level baseball games recently. He spoke on his willingness to do whatever to help the team win in the team’s media day.
“Doing everything I can to win, to help the team in any possible way, whether it means hit first, to hit last, anywhere in the lineup, anywhere in the field, I’m just ready to do everything to help this team go to a Regional and hopefully go to Omaha”, Blinn said.
Marquee Matchups
- Feb. 18 vs. Miami (FL)
- Feb. 21-23 vs. UConn
- Feb. 25 at UCF
- Mar. 5 at Florida
- Mar. 18 vs. Miami (FL)
- Mar. 28-30 at UTSA
- Apr. 4-6 at East Carolina
- Apr. 15 at Miami (FL)
- Apr. 22 vs. UCF
- May 2-4 at Tulane
- AAC Tournament May 20-25
Probable Pitching Rotation
Trey Beard – Entering his Sophomore season with the Owls, Beard looks to build off of an impressive freshman year. He tossed 65.1 innings in 2024 as the Sunday starter, making 15 starts across 16 games while recording a 9.4 K/9. A weekend starter for the second straight season, Beard was massive for the Owls down the stretch of 2024. He talked about his desire and hunger to make another run in the AAC Conference Tournament.
“Got a little taste of winning in the conference tournament last year when we won two games, but I’m hungry to win it all this year,” Beard said.
Beard talked with us in the fall about how he was working on tweaking some stuff with his pitch mix. He followed up with how that development went to close out the fall 2024 season.
“I was just working on some of my secondaries, my slider, curveball, and I’m feeling really good,” Beard said.
While Beard was mainly a fastball-changeup guy in 2024 with some sliders worked in, he expects to have that four-pitch mix working for the 2025 spring season.
James Litman – A newcomer for the Owls, Litman provides FAU with an awesome story of a local recruit coming in to bolster his hometown rotation. Litman was recruited out of West Boca, and has developed a ton of hype surrounding his name. He’s been named the #4 Impact Freshman in the AAC for 2025. Litman spoke on the coaching staff’s ability to help maintain his success from high school to the collegiate level.
“Coach T (Coach Jordan Tabakman) has been amazing this fall. He’s really been helping me continue my success from high school over to college, just been trusting him, trusting my pitches, and throwing them for strikes”, Litman said.
Tyler Murphy – A staple piece to the Owls rotation, Murphy is set to have a big year with FAU as a junior. Murphy pitched 53.1 innings in 2024, following the spring season up with a very productive summer where he recorded a 1.38 ERA in the SFCL, and made two starts in the Cape.
Probable Starters
C – Dylan LaPointe
1B Emilio Gonzalez
2B Martinez/Ward/Slattery
SS Brando Leroux
3B Nick Romano
RF Baez/Duer
CF Marshall Lipsey
LF John Schroeder
DH Brady/Gonzalez
Catcher: Dylan LaPointe will likely see the starting spot as he played behind John Schroeder last season. LaPointe only had 53 plate appearances in 2024, but had an incredible summer with the Worcester Bravehearts in the FCBL, recording a .285 batting average and an .857 OPS in 41 games. He’s been named the #38 draft prospect out of the AAC in 2025. Junior Ayden Garcia should also see some time behind the plate, while freshmen TJ Gramesty and brother of Tyler, Dylan Murphy will be the backups.
First Base: Coming into his sophomore year, Emilio Gonzalez could turn a lot of heads. He’s coming off of a massive summer in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League, where he hit for a .337 batting average and a .932 OPS, with 27 RBI in 31 games. Coach McCormack talked about Gonzalez’s mindset heading into the 2025 spring season.
“He’s matured, he was dropped into a situation last year with Mike (La Rocca) getting hurt. I think he did a nice job but I think at times it was a lot for him to handle. We had a conversation in early January and I walked away saying he’s maturing, he’s getting it,” McCormack said.
Jake Millan should be another name to slot in at first base during the season. While listed as an outfielder on the roster, Millan played 11 games at the spot last season. Millan recorded a .922 OPS in 2024 with 8 home runs. Maybe the Owls’ hitter with the most underrated pop on the roster.
Second Base: With Christian Adams departing to Georgia for his final season, that leaves second base to be manned down likely by senior Joey Slattery, junior Patrick Ward, and redshirt-freshman John Martinez. Slattery only played 20 games last season, but still managed to get on base at a .368 clip. Ward was used heavily at the hot corner at 3B in 2024, and is coming off of a great summer where he hit .297 in 32 games.
Third Base: Third base is set to be manned down likely by redshirt-junior Nick Romano. The Georgia Tech transfer is coming off of a solid summer in the NECL, where he hit for a .280 batting average with 24 RBI in 40 games. Freshman Jayden Harriel will likely serve as the next man up at the hot corner, but the Top 100 third base recruit according to Perfect Game is another great piece for depth.
Shortstop: Senior, Brando Leroux is set to take over the shortstop position yet again in 2025. A staple part of the Owls’ 2024 lineup, playing 57 games, all being at the shortstop position. Leroux is a workhorse that should be able to take a massive step forward in 2025.
Left Field: As discussed in media day earlier before the season, senior John Schroeder will be taking over left field this season. Playing both catcher and right field, Schroeder possesses more than enough defensive versatility to move to the other corner outfield spot. Coming off of a great 2024, with an .868 OPS and 10 home runs, Schroeder is one of the premiere bats in this lineup to watch.
Center Field: Junior Marshall Lipsey is the probable starter in center field with departures from great defensive options like Spencer Rich and Jalen DeBose. As previously mentioned a national champion at Blinn College, Lipsey hit for a .321 batting average with a 1.028 OPS in 118 career games. Two-sport athlete Kyle Boylston is likely the next man up in the center field spot, coming over from the football team as a DB. He provides incredible athleticism and depth as a freshman to this lineup.
Right Field: The right field spot could have multiple different possibilities. Junior’s Danny Baez and Jake Duer are both potential starters. Both had phenomenal summer campaigns, each hitting for batting averages over .330. Senior Jake Millan has played the most games in his collegiate career in right field, and when not at first base or possibly the DH spot, right field could be a spot.
Designated Hitter: Redshirt-Junior Carter Brady will likely be the DH for the Owls in 2025. While Jake Millan and Emilio Gonzalez could see time in the DH spot as well, Brady likely will see the most time. Brady’s coming off of a great summer with Palm Beach in the SFCL, hitting for a .293 batting average with an .843 OPS in 33 games.
Remaining Pitching Staff
Right Handed Pitchers: MJ Bollinger, Steven Andrews, AJ Shelton, Mark Loubier, Ryan Buckler, Dawson Ball, Braden Ostrander, Joey Abbazzia, Carter Holjes, Dylan Oborne, Bryan Boully, Nick Wimberly, Todd Kniebbe, Cole Frye, Riley Witmer.
Left Handed Pitchers: Max Martzolf, Kide Adetuyi, Zach Kilby.
Full List of Newcomers:
- Zach Kilby LHP #55 (Tampa, FL)
- Reilly Witmer RHP #44 (Naples, FL)
- Dylan Murphy C #42 (Palm City, FL)
- Todd Kniebbe RHP #37 (Debary, FL)
- Nick Wimberly RHP #36 (Port St. John, FL)
- Carter Holjes RHP #32 (Cary, NC)
- TJ Gramesty C #29 (Boca Raton, FL)
- Joey Abbazia RHP #28 (Cos Cob, CT)
- James Litman RHP #27 (Boca Raton, FL)
- Marshall Lipsey CF #24 (Longview, TX)
- John Martinez INF #21 (Orlando, FL)
- Ryan Buckler RHP #19 (Barnstable, MA)
- Jayden Harriel INF #18 (Oldsmar, FL)
- Jake Duer OF #15 (Flower Mound, TX)
- MJ Bollinger RHP #7 (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
- Ayden Garcia C #2 (Covina, CA)
- Danny Baez OF #1 (Oviedo, FL)
