What : 2015 NCAA Baseball Gainesville, FL Regional Who : 1. Florida 44-16 (SEC Auto) 2. Florida Atlantic 40-17 (C-USA At Large) 3. USF 33-24-1 (AAC At Large) 4. Florida A&M 23-23 (MEAC Auto) When : Friday, May 29th Game 1: #2 FAU vs #3 USF @ 1:00 PM Game 2: #1 Florida vs #4 Florida A&M @ 7:00 PM Saturday, May 30th Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 @ 1:00 PM Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2 @ 7:00 PM Sunday, May 31st Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 @ 12:00 PM Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 @ 4:00 PM Monday, June 1st Game 7: @ 7:00 PM (if necessary) Where : Alfred A. McKethan Stadium TV : SECN – Games 4,5,6 & 7 Video : ESPN3 Audio : Here Stats : Here Series : The Owls stand at 1-11 all-time against South Florida, lead Florida A&M 21-3, and trail Florida UF 18-7. Pre-Tournament Notes : #1 Florida RPI : 3 Projected Starting Pitchers Fri: RHP Dane Dunning (5-2, 3.95 ERA) Sat: RHP Alex Faedo (4-1, 3.58 ERA) Sun: RHP Logan Shore (7-6, 2.79 ERA) Mon: LHP A.J. Puk (8-3, 4.23 ERA) Florida is 85-64 (.570) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached the College World Series eight times, most recently in 2012. They will be making their 31st Regional appearance and school-record eighth in a row under head coach Kevin OSullivan, who served as assistant Coach at FAU from 1994-95. The Gators took the 2015 SEC Tournament as the #3 seed with four straight wins, and knocked off both LSU and Vanderbilt in the process. Freshman JJ Schwarz was selected as the Most Valuable Player after batting .526 (10-for-19) over the Gator’s five total games, with six RBI, five runs and three doubles. As a team, UF sits with 52 long balls (22nd nationally). The two players primarily responsible for that number are Schwarz (14) and Harrison Bader (13). Leading the way at the plate overall is Josh Tobias’ .372 average and team best 44.1% on base percentage. With with nation’s best fielding mark of .985 they aren’t likely to make any mistakes either. This will make solid decision at the plate by opponents all the more important in generating run production. UF went 1-0 against Florida Atlantic this season and 2-0 against USF. Although they did not play the Rattlers in 2015, last season’s outing resulted in FAMU’s only victory against them. #2 Florida Atlantic RPI : 16 Projected Starting Pitchers Fri: RHP Drew Jackson (6-3, 2.10 ERA) Sat: LHP Brandon Rhodes (4-1, 3.50 ERA) Sun: RHP Kyle Miller (6-3, 3.77 ERA) Mon: RHP David McKay (3-2, 3.41 ERA) Florida Atlantic (40-17) is making their 11th NCAA Regional appearance overall and their ninth at the Division I level – 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015. The Owls stand 14-17 all-time in the NCAA Division I Tournament and will visit Gainesville for regional play for the second time. Despite not winning the C-USA Championship, FAU was able to cash in on a solid RPI which was achieved during their 14 series wins on the season. Adding to that faction was an additional 12 wins over 2014’s final mark of 28-25. The Owls saw a sharp decline from regular season producers in the 2015 C-USA Tournament, most noticeably Ricky Santiago and CJ Chatham, who are the team’s 2nd and 3rd best hitters. The two combined for a 3-of-25 showing at the plate, but did foster six of the team’s 11 RBI. However, if history is any indicator of future performance there is some cause to be optimistic. Of the current offensive players who participated in both the Owls’ 2013 postseason play and this year’s C-USA Tournament both Brendon Sanger and Santiago bring respectable overall postseason averages from the period into Gainesville. FAU is hoping that Roman Collins, who batted .429 with 3 RBI and 7 TB last week, will remain hot as well. Coach McCormack will look to ace Drew Jackson to kick things off from the hill on Friday. Provided the Owls advance in the winner’s bracket, the likely choice for what should be a a contest against Florida would be Brandon Rhodes. One could argue that South Florida will pose just as tough a game as host Florida considering the Owls will face ace Jimmy Herget. And they’ll need to get to him early as he goes just under six innings per outing. #3 South Florida RPI : 30 Projected Starting Pitchers Fri: RHP Jimmy Herget (9-3, 2.95 ERA) Sat: RHP Ryan Valdes (5-3, 3.16 ERA) Sun: RHP Casey Mulholland (5-8, 3.71 ERA) Mon: TBA The Bulls (33-24-1) return to NCAA postseason action for the first time since the 2002 season, when they won 2-of-3 in the Tallahassee Regional. Being selected for the pool seems a bit surprising considering that they dropped 10 of their last 15 games, but RPI factored into the equation down the stretch giving them one of the last four spots left. USF saw three players recognized to the All-American Athletic Conference Teams, including C Levi Borders (1st), P Jimmy Herget (1st), and P Tommy Peterson (2nd). Borders leads the Bulls with nine home runs, 24 extra-base hits, 44 runs batted in and a .498 slugging percentage. The junior is second on the team with 41 runs and 64 hits and third in batting (.295). Borders has also thwarted 22 stolen base attempts. Herget is a three time first team recipient. The righty currently has a 9-3 record and a 2.95 ERA and finished 2015 American play ranked second in the conference with 101 strikeouts. Peterson boasts a 2.06 ERA and 4-1 record. His 15 saves led the American and currently ranks him third in the nation. He has pitched 43.2 innings in his 27 appearances, striking out 50 batters to just 14 walks issued. Senior shortstop Kyle Teaf leads the country in consecutive starts with 227 straight for USF. #4 Florida A&M RPI : 231 Projected Starting Pitchers Fri: LHP Ricky Page (2-0, 1.32 ERA) Sat: RHP Ryan Anderson (1-3, 4.05 ERA) Sun: RHP Chase Jarrell (2-4, 6.00 ERA) Mon: TBA The Rattlers (23-23) have come a long way from 2013’s overall record of 7-47 and will be playing in their first NCAA Regional after defeating Bethune Cookman to win the MEAC Championship – their first since the 1994 season. Their league success is no surprise, as FAMU was picked to finish 2nd in the 2015 Preseason MEAC Coaches Poll. Florida A&M went 3-0 in the tournament with wins over Savannah State (7-4), Delaware State (11-2) and Bethune-Cookman. FAMU led the MEAC defensively with a .964 fielding percentage. On the mound, the squad tallied a second place showing behind a 4.38 team ERA and was also tied for the MEAC lead with 10 saves on the year. Offensively, the Rattlers placed third in home runs with 20, and were first in walks with 202. Senior outfielder Jared Walker boast the squads best batting average (.324), on base percentage (44%), and sacrifice hits (12). This year’s regular season match-up in Gainesville against UF was rained out, or there might be a bit more to go on expectation wise for what can be a spunky ball club at times.
