Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Baseball Tangles with Jacksonville to Open up NCAA Regional
5/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - For the fifth time in 10 years under Head Coach John McCormack, the Florida Atlantic University baseball team will compete at an NCAA Regional, playing Friday's second game in Gainesville, against Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m.
This marks the third time FAU (40-17-1) has been placed in the Gainesville Regional, also appearing there in 2010 and 2015, recording twin 2-2 marks. Each time, they advanced to the final game against the host Gators. In each case too, the Owls fell in their first matchup and had to win their way back to the regional finale.
The team hopes to eliminate that pattern Friday night, playing Jacksonville for the first time in 12 years, when the two squads were both part of the Atlantic Sun. In fact, the last matchup of 37 in history - with FAU currently leading the series 19-18 - was an 8-3 Owl win in the ASUN Tournament, on May 25, 2006. That snapped a five-game losing streak against the Dolphins.
This season, JU is 39-19 overall, and finished second in the ASUN with a 14-6 mark. They bowed out of this year's conference tourney in the semifinal round, winning two before falling in their next two.
The Dolphins' hitters are led by Scott Dubrule, the tops among four at .300 or higher, batting .358 to lead the conference. He was also the ASUN leader in hits (83) and was the conference's second-toughest hitter to strike out. As a team, JU led the ASUN in average (.292), OBP (.385), walks (254), hits (573) and runs (354).
Friday's pitching matchup will be Blake Sanderson for FAU (1-1, 4.85 ERA with three starts in 19 appearances) versus JU's Chris Gau (8-3 with a team-low 2.65 ERA among starters). Gau, Tyler Santana (10-1) and Spencer Stockton (8-5) have combined for 26 of the Dolphins' 39 wins. Sanderson was just named to the 2018 C-USA All-Tournament Team, giving up just one earned run and striking out nine in 8 2/3 innings, including one start.
The Owls/Dolphins matchup follows the opener between host Florida (42-17) and Ivy League champs Columbia (20-28), at noon in Gainesville. All games will be streamed on ESPN3. Free FAU radio will also be available; for Friday's game specifically, the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLBJx5_bors.
