Baseball Lifts Lid off League Ledger This Weekend, Hosting Rice

Florida Atlantic Baseball vs. Rice
Series Details	Boca Raton, Fla. \| FAU Baseball Stadium \| Tickets Friday, March 15 \| 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16 \| 4 p.m. Sunday, March 17 \| Noon
Game Coverage	Streaming: FAUSports.TV Live Stats Twitter: @FAU_Baseball
Florida Atlantic Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| FAU-Rice Game Notes
Rice Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team kicks off Conference USA play with a three-game set this weekend, taking on Rice at FAU Baseball Stadium. The Owls from the Sunshine State have won eight of their last nine; after a three-game win streak earlier this month, the Owls from Texas have lost four of six.

Owls' Midweek in Review
FAU (11-7) won both midweek matchups against Quinnipiac, shutting out the Bobcats 7-0 Tuesday, and completing the sweep with a 7-4 win Wednesday night. Over the set, Francisco Urbaez and Bobby Morgensen each had three hits, with Urbaez homering in each game and getting on base at a clip of .778 (Morgensen's OBP was an impressive .625 as well). Urbaez also leads the team on the year with a .393 average, .493 on-base and .768 slugging, and is tied for the C-USA lead with five home runs (as well as the outright leader in slugging).

Owls' Weekend in Preview
Rice (8-11) split two home games this week, topping Lamar 12-5, before being shut out by Texas State, 5-0. The weekend prior, Oklahoma took two of three against them. Sophomore Trei Cruz ties Urbaez with five home runs for the league lead, and is the conference's top run scorer with 21. Junior Bradley Gneiting has the most hits in the conference with 31. Friday night starter Matt Canterino was named Preseason C-USA Pitcher of the Year, and Rice is under a new head coach for the first time since 1991 in Matt Bragga. He most recently was at Tennessee Tech, and led the Golden Eagles to a 53-12 record in 2018, which included a regional title over Ole Miss in Oxford, before falling in the Super Regionals to Texas.

Weekend Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday: FAU – Blake Sanderson, R-Sr. RHP (3-0, 3.33) vs. Rice – Matt Canterino, Jr. RHP (1-2, 1.50)
Saturday: FAU: Mike Ruff, Jr. RHP (2-0, 6.75) vs. Rice – Evan Kravetz, Sr. LHP (1-1, 4.35)
Sunday: FAU: To Be Announced vs. Rice – Jackson Parthasarathy, Sr. RHP (2-2, 2.05)

Opponent History
Rice won the first eight games in the series, but over the last three years, FAU has a 7-6-1 advantage, which includes the two teams meeting up an absurd six times in the postseason. In Houston last year, FAU won the first two before the third matchup ended in a tie. At the Conference USA Championship, Rice was victorious, 5-4, on the tournament's second day, but FAU would win back-to-back matchups (7-4 and 9-8 in 10 innings) to eliminate the western Owls.

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 hit the road for four games, with a midweek in Fort Myers against Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday, and then the squad's first out-of-state trip of the season the next weekend, at UAB in Birmingham. The return home is Wednesday, March 27, hosting Miami, and FIU the weekend after (March 29-31). Tickets are available by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting baseball's ticket website.

Calendar

Upcoming Events