What: Florida Atlantic vs Memphis
When: April 11th @ 6:30 PM | April 12th @ 4:00 PM | April 13th @ 12:00 PM
Where: FAU Baseball Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Stats: Stats Broadcast
FAU – LHP Trey Beard (5-0, 3.18 ERA)
Memphis – RHP Seth Garner (2-3, 3.65 ERA)
FAU – RHP Tyler Murphy (3-2, 4.15 ERA)
Memphis – LHP Davis Case (1-4, 5.91 ERA)
FAU – RHP James Litman (2-0, 4.05 ERA)
Memphis – LHP Isaac Lucas(2-0, 6.05 ERA)
Owls Notables
What a past weekend it was for FAU as the Owls swept ECU in North Carolina. Now, Florida Atlantic (23-9, 5-4 AAC) is flying high with a four-game winning streak and a lowly Memphis squad coming to Paradise.
FAU’s dominant factor has been their offense. Currently, the Owls have the second best BA in the AAC at .312, and leading in slugging percentage with .491. Florida Atlantic is currently second in the AAC in OB% as well.
Transfer Junior, Jake Duer has put up the best batting average on the Owls roster. The former TCU Horned Frog is leading the American with his .421 average, and hits (56)
Duer, who had a total of eight appearances back at Texas Christian, has started every game this season. Currently, the junior leads the Owls in at bats with 133 as well.
On the mound, Florida Atlantic leads the conference in earned run average as the arms have allowed a 4.17 ERA collectively. Recently, the Owls passed ECU for the top spot after the weekend series.
The Friday starter, Trey Beard, has had a good year but has been roughed up in back-to-back starts. The conference leader in strikeouts gave up five runs against UTSA and four runs against ECU.
The start against the Roadrunners was arguably Beard’s worst start this season, and although he pitched seven innings last weekend against ECU, he still struggled against the Pirates.
The best news for those on the team in a slump, including Beard, is the welcoming of Memphis, a team that before Sunday, had lost 11-straight.
The starters for Coach McCormack have not changed, but expect a few bench players to make an appearance if the series goes in the way of the Owls.
Projected Starters
C Ayden Garcia/Dylan LaPointe (Alternating Starts)
1B Jake Millan
2B John Martinez
SS Brando Leroux
3B Pat Ward
RF Jake Duer
CF Marshall Lipsey
LF John Schroeder
After the weekend, FAU will head South to finish the season series against Miami next Tuesday.
Memphis Notables
The Memphis Tigers currently sit at 12-20, and are 1-8 in conference play. It will be the Tigers first trip to Paradise, as FAU won the series against Memphis 2-1 in Tennessee last season.
One may think that the weekend could be a sweep, but Memphis walked away with a Sunday win against USF, the top team in the AAC. Do not be shocked if the Tigers steal one away from FAU as well.
The Tigers are currently slashing .223/ .338/ .370. Those numbers put Memphis near the bottom in the conference in hitting. On the other hand, the arms have a produced a 4.94 ERA, fourth best in the conference. The answer for why the arms have not helped secure more victories is simple though: opponents batting average.
Memphis has allowed the third worst OBA in the conference as teams are hitting .275 against the Tigers. That, and weak offensive performances are the reasons for Memphis’ poor season.
INF Shane Cox and OF James Smith IV are two of the ones to watch in this weekend’s matchup. Cox leads Memphis in slugging % and is second in hits for the Tigers squad. Smith IV is the batting average leader for the Tigers as he is hitting .277. The Junior leads in hits, total bases, and RBIs as well.
