Baseball’s Regular Season Wraps This Weekend vs. Middle Tennessee

Thursday, May 16

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

Middle Tennessee

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Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Baseball’s Regular Season Wraps This Weekend vs. Middle Tennessee

5/15/2019 3:07:00 PM | Baseball

No. 29 Florida Atlantic Baseball vs. Middle Tennessee
Matchup Details	Boca Raton, Fla. \| FAU Baseball Stadium \| Tickets Thursday, May 16 \| 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 17 \| 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 \| 1 p.m.
Game Coverage	Streaming: FAUSports.TV Stats: Live Stats Twitter: @FAU_Baseball
Florida Atlantic Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| FAU-MT Game Notes
MT Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – With three games remaining, No. 29 Florida Atlantic University baseball controls its own destiny towards a potential 2019 Conference USA regular season championship, as the squad hosts Middle Tennessee for Senior Weekend beginning on Thursday night.

Currently, FAU (34-18, 19-8 C-USA) is tied for first place with Southern Miss but holds the tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles. Regardless of USM's results, if the Owls are able to post a weekend sweep, that would clinch at least a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's C-USA Championship.

The final weekend is an early one, with games Thursday and Friday (both at 6:30 p.m.), and the series will wrap up Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. There are 12 members of baseball's Class of 2019: Nine players (Vince Coletti, Diamond Johnson, Gunnar Lambert, Joe Montes, Richie Nizza, Jacob Pino, Blake Sanderson, Zach Schneider and Nick Swan) and three staff members (athletic trainer Max Diaz, manager Carolyn Sherpe and director of operations Brian Thomas). The celebration of the class will take place at approximately 12:40 on Saturday afternoon.

Friday Night Trivia
Join us for a fun-filled night of trivia at FAU Baseball Stadium this Friday, as Howie Schwab from ESPN's "Stump the Schwab" will be at the game to test your knowledge. For more info and to enter to be a contestant in the "Leading Off" contest, visit www.fausports.com/trivia.

Owls' Midweek in Review
Despite coming all the way back from a 7-0 deficit to eventually tie things, the Owls came up short for the second straight high-scoring midweek in a 13-10 loss to UCF. Pedro Pages, Eric Rivera and Bobby Morgensen combined for 10 of FAU's 17 hits, and all nine Owls reached base. Currently, eight regulars are hitting .299 or higher on the season, towards a conference-best .296 team average. Pages hit the team's 54th home run of the season Tuesday, also the most in the league, as is the squad's hit (554) and run (370) totals.

Owls' Weekend in Preview
Middle Tennessee (18-34, 11-16 C-USA) is tied for ninth in the league standings, with eight teams qualifying for postseason play. However, teams slotted seventh through 12th are all only separated by two games in the loss column. The Blue Raiders were edged out Tuesday by No. 5 Vanderbilt, 5-2, and have lost their last four C-USA sets, going 1-2 in the most recent series (last weekend at home vs. FIU). Myles Christian leads the team and ranks among the league leaders with 11 home runs, with Blake Benefield right behind him with nine.

Weekend Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday: FAU – Blake Sanderson, R-Sr. RHP (7-2, 3.57) vs. MT – Zach Keenan, So. RHP (4-4, 4.48)
Saturday: FAU – Mike Ruff, Jr. RHP (5-4, 5.77) vs. MT – Peyton Wigginton, So. LHP (5-4, 4.76)
Sunday: FAU – TBA vs. MT – TBA

Opponent History
The Owls and Blue Raiders are not only current C-USA foes, but also previously were both members of the Sun Belt Conference, and as such, have a more prolonged history: 22-16 in favor of FAU. In the last four years in C-USA, FAU holds a 8-4 edge, and won two of three last year in Murfreesboro.

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 C-USA Championship takes place in Biloxi, Mississippi, beginning next Wednesday, May 22. Seeding and game times will be released following the conclusion of this weekend's slate, likely later on Saturday night.