Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Baseball Closes Out Season in Georgia
5/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2005
Florida Atlantic University's baseball team will close out the regular season this week when it heads to Georgia to face Georgia Southern and Georgia State. FAU will face Georgia Southern on Tuesday at 6 pm before heading to Atlanta to finish the conference season on Thursday, Friday and Saturday against Georgia State.
The Eagles (33-18) will be hosting FAU in their final home game of the season on Tuesday. The team went 1-3 over the last week and suffered a loss to Georgia State last Wednesday, 10-4.
The team boasts a .334 batting average and is led by Jason Hurst's .415 average and 23 doubles. The team has shown power with 63 home runs and 120 doubles. Four player have double-digit home runs and Derrick Smith leads the team with 13.
A.J. Battisto will take the mound against FAU with a 2-0 record and 6.25 ERA. The sophomore has 40.1 innings with 26 strikeouts. The right-hander has started three games and opponents are hitting .337 against him.
Georgia State (25-27, 15-12 A-Sun) enters the weekend in fourth place in the A-Sun behind FAU. The Panthers are led by Justin Newman with a .335 batting average, 16 doubles and 11 home runs.
The weekend starters on the GSU pitching staff have been Romas Hicks, Brett Strickland and left-hander Ben Rulon. Rulon earned A-Sun Pitcher-of-the-Week honors after he threw 10 innings against UCF and did not allow an earned run. The senior holds a 5-6 record with a 4.81 ERA. He has struck out 38 in 82.1 innings.
Hicks leads the team with 74 strikeouts in 82.1 innings and holds a 5-5 record and 4.48 ERA. Strickland's 5.11 ERA and 3-4 record have come in 12 starts and 68.2 innings.
FAU (30-19, 16-11 A-Sun) has secured a spot in next week's A-Sun Tournament. The team will send Will Mann to the mound on Tuesday to face the Eagles. The junior has made 10 starts on the year with a 3-3 record and 5.35 ERA. He has worked 65.2 innings and struck out 45.
Weekend starters are expected to be Mickey Storey, Chris Salberg and Brandon Kloess. Storey leads the A-Sun with a 1.99 ERA and has accumulated a 7-1 record and 7 saves on the year. The freshman is holding opponents to a .228 batting average and has struck out 66 in 72.1 innings.
Left-hander Salberg has put together a 5.14 ERA in 63 innings and 3-4 record, while Kloess holds a 7-2 record and 4.41 ERA. The sophomore has struck out 44 in 51 innings.
FAU's offense is hitting .302 with 40 home runs and 73 doubles. Sophomore Robbie Widlansky leads the team with seven home runs and 37 RBI.
FAU leads the series against Georgia Southern 1-0. The only meeting was in 2003 when FAU won 12-2 and Coach Kevin Cooney picked up his 700th career win.
In the last two seasons, FAU has won the season series against Georgia State. FAU holds the series lead 19-6.
