Florida Atlantic University Athletics
The 2017 FAU Baseball Season in Review
6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team brought a mix of youth and experience into the 2017 campaign and paired them together to the tune of 35 wins, advancement to the final four at the Conference USA Championships, and numerous conference- and region-wide accolades.
The Owls were coming off of a C-USA regular season title the year prior and brought back 10 upperclassmen and eight other returnees, mixing them with an incoming class of 16. The infield was made up of three returning starters, a sophomore convert and a two-headed platoon behind the plate. The pitching staff returned some experience, though some were making the move from the bullpen into the rotation. And literally every player that played even one inning in the outfield had not done so at FAU prior to this season.
The year began on a high note, as the Owls went 8-0-1 in their first nine series of the season, including the first five in C-USA play. A 2-1 series win over Rice marked the first in program history, and the Sunday clincher vs. the visiting Owls provided Head Coach John McCormack with his 300th career victory.
A few weeks later, a win over eventual Atlantic Sun champion and NCAA regional participant Florida Gulf Coast occurred in the midst of a five-game winning streak, and was the Owls' first win in their first-ever game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.
Heading into the homestretch, a lot was still on the line. A midweek win over No. 29 UCF (also in West Palm) was win No. 30 of the year, the eighth time in nine years under McCormack that feat was reached, and 19th time in the last 20 years overall. The team then clinched the No. 3 seed at the C-USA Championships after taking the last series against No. 25 Old Dominion, culminating with a 3-0 shutout win in the regular season finale.
In Biloxi, Mississippi, the Owls survived to be one of the final four teams left standing, with back-to-back wins against FIU, and, once more, ODU. Though the season ended on Saturday morning, FAU posted a final record of 35-21-1, reaching 35+-wins for the third consecutive season.
Four Owls received Conference USA honors. Shortstop Tyler Frank, who made the move from behind the plate to play every single inning of every game at short in 2017, was chosen First Team All-Conference. He was the team's leading hitter at .336, finishing second in home runs (11) and third in RBI (43). Frank was also the Owls' leader in runs (54), hits (79), doubles (15), total bases (127), walks (41) and on-base percentage (.448), and was among the league leaders in OBP, walks, home runs, plate appearances, hits, total bases and runs scored.
Designated hitter Jared Shouppe (who led the Owls in batting average against league opponents) and closer Cameron Ragsdale (co-leader in the conference in saves) were voted All-C-USA Second Team, and first-year outfielder Eric Rivera (.256/six home runs/31 RBI), was named to the All-Freshman team. In addition to Rivera, another fantastic newcomer to the squad was fellow outfielder David Miranda, the team's top power hitter (12 home runs and 51 RBI), while batting .319. He garnered an ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region Second Team nod, with Frank chosen to the First Team.
Frank too was invited to take part in the USA Baseball Tryout Camp for the Collegiate National Team. He survived the first round of cuts to make the roster for the team's series against Chinese Taipei to begin on June 27. The final 24-man roster for Team USA will be announced on July 2 ahead of the annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series.
The sophomore was surrounded by experience along the infield in 2017. Fifth-year first baseman Esteban Puerta and fellow senior third baseman Austin Langham played and started every game, and Stephen Kerr, at second base, ended his four-year career as the program's all-time leader in game started and assists. Like Kerr, Puerta wrapped his stay at FAU with multiple listings on the all-time ledger, and smashed 29 home runs in his career. Langham provided consistent offense (batting .332 in 2017 and .326 in his two-year career) and defense, as with just two errors all year long, he was named an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove finalist. He was also successful in the classroom, chosen both C-USA Baseball All-Academic and CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Rivera and Miranda manned the outfield along with Shouppe and Jordan Poore (who became a mainstay after beginning the year as only a relief pitcher and went on to bat .270 in 28 games started). Shouppe and Sean Labsan earned the bulk of the starts at designated hitter, and behind the plate, Kevin Abraham returned from missing 2016 due to a cancer diagnosis to start 27 games, joined in the platoon by freshman Pedro Pages, who started 29. They combined to throw out 16 baserunners and pick off four more and Abraham only had three errors all season long.
The pitching rotation was led by Alex House and Jake Miednik, starting 28 combined games and providing 13 total wins. House had the team's only two complete games, and his 68 strikeouts were just behind Miednik's 75. Miednik led the team with seven wins, and pitched eight shutout innings in the team's finale victory. That earned him C-USA Pitcher of the Week, an honor House was bestowed after his first complete game win, in late March. House was selected in the 24th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, and has been assigned to the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats in the Houston Astros' organization.
The bullpen, besides Ragsdale, was paced by newcomer Drew Peden, returnees Mark Nowatnick and Kyle Marman, and a lefty/righty combination each coming off a season lost due to injury: Weston Clemente and Blake Sanderson. Nowatnick and Sanderson were each so successful that they each entered into the rotation late in the season. Peden pitched a team-high 28 games and struck out 47 batters in 33 1/3 innings. Clemente had the team's lowest ERA of 2.29, with Nowatnick just behind him at 2.40 (1.74 in the bullpen). Sanderson was 1.50 as a reliever and 3.48 overall, and Marman was second in the 'pen with 27 punchouts and he too was called upon to start two games to end the year.
Though the team lost six seniors - Kerr, Labsan, Langham, Puerta, Ragsdale and Shouppe - plus House, a multitude of players with experience will return (five starters, including both catchers, and over a dozen pitchers) with a whole new batch of newcomers. The Owls will also have to replace erstwhile pitching coach Jason Jackson, who had been at McCormack's side for all nine seasons he has been at the helm of the program.
McCormack's 10th team as head coach will get together soon ahead of the fall slate, and the 2018 campaign should begin in mid-to-late February.
