Baseball Hosts Illinois For Three This Weekend

Florida Atlantic vs. Illinois
Series Details	Boca Raton, Fla. \| FAU Baseball Stadium \| Tickets Feb. 22 \| 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23 \| 4 p.m. Feb. 24 \| Noon
Game Coverage	Streaming: FAUSports.TV Live Stats Twitter: @FAU_Baseball
Florida Atlantic Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| FAU-Illinois Game Notes
Illinois Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University baseball returns home for another weekend set beginning Friday, hosting Illinois at FAU Baseball Stadium. Game times return to normal: 6:30 p.m. in the opener, 4 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday for the finale.

Owls' Midweek in Review
The Owls (3-1) were upended Wednesday night by Miami, but return to their home stadium having won three the weekend prior over Cincinnati. Senior third baseman Joe Montes kept up his hot hitting to start the year with two more baseknocks Wednesday, raising his season average to .467 (7-for-15).

Owls' Weekend in Preview
Illinois (3-0) had the midweek off, and too, put together an undefeated opening weekend. Playing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Illini defeated Georgetown (11-3), then-No. 20 Wake Forest (5-2) and Sacred Heart (4-0). Outfielder Zac Taylor leads the team with a .462 batting average and three extra base hits. Sunday starter Cyrillo Watson threw six shutout innings, allowing five hits and issuing no walks, while striking out eight.

Weekend Tentative Starting Pitchers

Friday: FAU – Blake Sanderson, R-Sr. RHP (1-0, 0.00) vs. Illinois – Quinn Snarskis, Sr. RHP (0-0, 4.91)
Saturday: FAU – Ryan Sandberg, R-So. RHP (0-0, 2.08) vs. Illinois – Andy Fisher, R-Sr. LHP (0-0, 3.18)
Sunday: FAU – Mike Ruff, Jr. RHP (0-0, 5.79) vs. Illinois – Cyrillo Watson, Jr. RHP (1-0, 0.00)

Opponent History
After not having played apart from a random Thursday game in 1989, these two teams matched up in Boca Raton two seasons ago. Three high-scoring games saw the Owls win the opener (11-10), fall in the middle game (14-4) and win going away on Sunday (16-2). That drew the all-time series even at 2-2 (Illinois won the 1989 game on March 23, 12-10).

Owls' Baseball on Social Media
Follow along with the team on Twitter @FAU_Baseball, on Instagram, and "like" FAU Baseball on Facebook.

After This
The Owls will play a short two-game midweek set next Tuesday and Wednesday in Jacksonville against North Florida. After that, a third straight weekend will be spent at home, hosting Monmouth from March 1-3. Get tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by visiting baseball's ticket website.

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Players Mentioned

Joe Montes

Mike Ruff

Ryan Sandberg

Blake Sanderson

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