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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Baseball Closes Out Regular-Season at Mercer
5/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2004
Florida Atlantic University will close out the 2004 regular season on Friday and Saturday with a three-game conference series at Mercer University. FAU is fighting for second place in the conference while the Bears will close out the season this weekend, not making the conference tournament.
Mercer currently stands in 10th place in the A-Sun with a 20-32, 8-19 record after earning a 2-1 victory over Auburn on Tuesday night. Taking the mound for the Bears will be Brantley New, Brian Jones and Philip Morris. Morris picked up the win over the Tigers on Tuesday after he threw six innings of shutout baseball. Jones earned the save with three innings of relief.
New has made six starts this season and holds a 6.18 ERA and 0-3 record. He has recorded 25 strikeouts and 19 walks in 43.2 innings.
Jones and Morrison have been the two constants on the staff. Both right-handers have started 17 games and Jones has thrown seven complete games and five shutouts in 110.2 innings. The senior holds a 9-5 record, 3.42 ERA and is holding opponents to a .252 batting average.
Morrison 4-10 record is reflective of a 6.09 ERA and 127 hits in 96 innings. He has struck out 76 but has give up 38 extra base hits.
Daniel Hurst leads the team with a .314 batting average and 28 RBI and is one of two players to start every game for Mercer. Christian Grossman and Andrew Einert both have six home runs on the year.
Randy Beam, Matt O'Brien and Chris Saxton will earn starts this weekend for FAU (38-15, 17-10 A-Sun). Beam holds a 3.24 ERA and 8-3 record in 102.2 innings. When the left-hander faced Mercer last year he held the team to two hits in five innings as he picked up his fifth win of the season.
O'Brien has picked up wins in his last two outings and holds a 10-3 record. The senior is ranked 9th in the nation in victories. He has started 14 games and has worked a total of 84 innings, while striking out 65 and walking 23.
Chris Saxton will make his fifth start on Saturday with a 3-1 record. The right-handed pitcher holds a 3.40 ERA in 45 innings and has struck out 30 while walking 19.
Tim Mascia raised his batting average to a team-leading .397 clip, while Rob Horst and Jeff Fiorentino have 14 and 13 home runs respectively.
FAU heads into the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on Wednesday in DeLand, FL. The seedings for the four-day double elimination tournament will be decided after this weekend's games.
Players Mentioned
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