Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Baseball Looks to Rebound on Final Road Trip
5/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Florida Atlantic University baseball team hits the road for the final time in the 2017 regular season this weekend, playing WKU in Bowling Green, Kentucky, beginning Friday night.
The Owls (29-16-1, 15-9 Conference USA) are still sitting near the top of the league standings despite suffering two walkoff losses to end their last weekend series. They are four games behind Southern Miss but just a game behind second-place Old Dominion. WKU (14-35, 4-20 C-USA) is on the outside looking in as far as postseason play goes, having been eliminated from making the C-USA Championship. They are in 12th place, three games behind the team atop them (Middle Tennessee), and have lost their last 13 league matchups.
FAU has dominated the head-to-head series, especially as of late. The all-time advantage is 24-10, with the Owls posting wins in the last nine games -- and 12 of 13 -- since 2012. Last season, it was a three-game sweep in Boca Raton, by scores of 4-3, 10-2 and 4-1.
Here are the starters and gametimes for the weekend:
- Friday, 6 p.m. EST: FAU -- Alex House (5-3, 5.06) vs. WKU -- Ryan Thurston (3-5, 5.56)
- Saturday, 2 p.m. EST: FAU -- Blake Sanderson (1-0, 2.62) vs. WKU -- Paul Kirkpatrick (2-7, 7.06)
- Sunday, 1 p.m. EST: FAU -- Jake Miednik (5-4, 5.35) vs. WKU -- TBA
WKU has one hitter above the .300 plateau in Hunter Wood (.308). He has nine home runs, trailing only teammate Thomas Peter's 10. Peter has 34 RBI and Wood 32 to lead the squad. Thurston is second in the conference with 83 strikeouts, and Kirkpatrick has issued just 12 walks in 66 1/3 innings, the fourth-lowest mark in the league.
Among the tops in the league for FAU are Tyler Frank (second in on-base percentage at .462 and in walks with 38), David Miranda (tied for fifth in home runs with 11 and eighth in slugging at .601), Stephen Kerr (T-fourth in walks with 33 and T-fifth with 10 stolen bases) and Austin Langham (T-8th with 41 walks and 10th in OBP at .441). Langham was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) this past week.
The Owls' next matchup is hosting UCF at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, next Tuesday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. Only one home series at FAU Baseball Stadium remains in 2017, the regular season's final set vs. Old Dominion, next Thursday through Saturday (May 18-20). For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/fau/EN/link/buy/browse?i%5B0%5D=251.
