What : FAU (19-11, 5-4) vs. FIU (13-17, 2-7) When : Thur, April 6th @ 6:30 PM Fri, April 7th @ 6:30 PM Sat, April 8th @ 5:00 PM Where : FIU Baseball Stadium Video : C-USA TV Live Stats : Here FIU Team Site : Here Series : Owls lead 75-52 all-time against the Panthers. Projected Starting Pitchers : FIU – TBD FAU – LHP Hunter Cooley (3-4, 4.57 ERA) FIU – TBD FAU – RHP Jacob Josey (3-2, 3.38 ERA) FIU – TBD FAU – RHP Dylan Oborne (1-0, 3.37 ERA) FAU Notables The Owls found a great time to get a walk-off grand slam against a nationally-ranked squad in Florida Gulf Coast Tuesday night. Dylan Goldstein (pictured) was at the center of it all. The junior outfielder had a marvelous hit on the ball, firing it all the way to right field in the final inning to clinch an 8-4 upset victory over the Eagles. He is batting .357 for 32 RBI and five home runs this season. Nolan Schanuel also joined Goldstein with the home runs against the Eagles. The junior outfielder launched a homer to right field for his 11th of the year, keeping him in the top 40 of the country for most home runs. Currently on a seven-game hitting streak, his excellent .455 batting average overall also places in the top 10 among the best hitters in the nation. FAU has found consistency from one of their starting pitchers in Jacob Josey. He has the best ERA (3.38) of those who consistently start with his seven appearances on the mound, recently striking out five batters in Saturday’s win over Rice. His ERA also ties him for 164th in the country alongside eligible pitchers. The starters (in non-batting order) for game one should be that of the below: RF John Schroeder CF Jalen DeBose LF Dylan Goldstein 1B Nolan Schanuel 2B Daulton Frank 3B Jackson Ross DH Mitchell Hartigan SS Armando Albert C Caleb Pendleton P Hunter Cooley Panther Notables FIU is going through a rough patch heading into the series against FAU. The Panthers are on a six-game losing streak, sustaining defeats to UAB, Miami, Middle Tennessee, and Stetson. While their offense has kept them remotely competitive in all of those matchups, their defense has let them down while getting outscored 54-38. FAU batters need to be careful going against Panther Ryan Cabarcas, who is expected to start in one of these games. His 42 strikeouts in 30.1 innings played leads the team while his average of 12.49 strikeouts per nine innings puts him in the top 50 as one of the best in the country, so the Owls need to show patience to find the right moment to swing their bats with him on the mound. Even with Cabarcas’ strong ability in striking out batters, the Panthers are still vulnerable in allowing earned runs. Their 7.54 ERA this season has them in the bottom 100 of the nation, so FAU should look to get as many hits as possible to have a comfortable time against FIU. Following the ending of the series, FIU will head up to Fort Myers for a Wednesday matchup against Florida Gulf Coast before traveling to Ruston for three games against Louisiana Tech.
