Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls Start Eight-Game Homestand on Tuesday
3/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2006
Florida Atlantic University returns home for an eight-game homestand starting Tuesday night against Harvard at 7 p.m. at FAU Stadium. Campbell Univeresity then will face the Owls in a three-game conference series starting on Friday at 7 p.m.
FAU supports an 11-7 home record and will be happy to return home to play Harvard (3-7-1). The Crimson is in the midst of its Florida swing and has played five games in the last four days. The team took one game from Jacksonville in a three game series before traveling to Lynn and Barry on Monday. The team defeated Lynn 11-9 before it headed to a game at Barry which ended in a 6-6 tie.
The team is hitting .280 but has been outscored 103-56 this season. The pitching staff has only managed an 8.87 ERA and opponents are hitting .322 against the squad.
Lance Salsgiver leads the team with a .429 batting average, while Josh Klimkiewicz leads the team with 12 RBI. FAU holds a 4-0 series advantage over Harvard.
After the midweek contest, the Owls will have two days to practice before a three-game Atlantic Sun series with Campbell. The Camels entered the week with an 8-16, 3-6 A-Sun record. The team leads the conference with a .309 batting average and 22 home runs but holds the highest ERA and opposing batting average in the league at 5.68 and .312.
Mike Priest and Brandon Scott lead the A-Sun with .421 and .402 batting averages, respectively. Priest also leads the conference with seven home runs and holds a .726 slugging percentage. FAU holds a 21-6 record over the Camels.
The Owls, 13-14, 3-6 A-Sun, need to move up in the conference standings and will look to Mickey Storey, Chris Salberg and Brandon Cooney to hold Campbell's offense in check. Salberg picked up a win last weekend at UNF as he struck out a career-high 11 batters.
With additional injuries on the team, Jordan Hafer has moved into the leadoff spot in the lineup. In his new role, the junior is hitting .448 with three doubles and two home runs in the last eight games to raise his batting average to .306 for the season. Also during that span, Ovy Ramirez has been hitting .375 and has added 10 RBI for a season total of 25. The first baseman is third in the league in that category.
Game times for the weekend series are slated for Friday at 7 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled to start on Saturday at 1 p.m. Fans can follow game action via gametracker at www.fausports.com.
