BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team (14-8) returns to Conference USA action on Friday night at home against UTSA. The Owls are 1-2 after the opening weekend of C-USA play and will be looking to climb the early season standings against a Roadrunners team the Owls have won four of the last five against.
There's something for everyone this weekend at the FAU Baseball Stadium. Friday is another edition of 'Bingo at the Ballpark'; Saturday is 'Bark in the Park' where fans can bring their dogs and receive a portable dog bowl; and Sunday is 'Kids Carnival Day' with arts and crafts available for the young ones.
The Owls earned their first C-USA win on Sunday afternoon in the series finale against Southern Miss. FAU received 14 hits from the offense plus six solid innings of relief work from
Jacob Josey to earn a 7-3 victory.
Nolan Schanuel went 4-for-4 at the plate and finished the four-game week with a .733 average (11-15) including three home runs and six RBI.
FAU returned home for a midweek clash against Miami where the Hurricanes got the better of the Owls for the second time this season in a 7-1 defeat.
UTSA is 12-8 and coming off a 3-2 defeat to Baylor on Tuesday. The Roadrunners began C-USA play last weekend by dropping two of three to Louisiana Tech. They have a win over No. 2 Stanford earlier in the season on their résumé.
The Roadrunners are led offensively by graduate senior Ian Bailey with eight home runs and 24 RBI. He's hitting .346 in 20 games. Leyton Berry, a 6'2" junior from Houston, is hitting .359 and has driven in 18. From a pitching standpoint, Friday's probable starter Luke Malone has been the ace of the staff so far this season. The 6'3" redshirt junior is 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA in four starts.
Friday | FAU -
Hunter Cooley (LHP) (3-0, 4.11 ERA) vs. UTSA - Luke Malone (RHP) (2-0, 0.78 ERA)
Saturday | FAU -
Tibur Rivero (RHP) (3-0, 4.88 ERA) vs. UTSA - Ulises Quiroga (1-2, 6.48 ERA)
Sunday | FAU -
Tyler Burnham (LHP) (1-0, 3.37 ERA) vs. UTSA - Braden Davis (RHP) (1-1, 4.05 ERA)
Due to COVID-19 in 2020 and the resulting C-USA schedule changes in 2021, these two teams have not met since 2019. The Owls won the last three against the Roadrunners that season, including two meetings in the conference tournament. FAU is 13-7 all-time against UTSA.
Follow along with the team on Twitter @FAUBaseball, on Instagram and "like" FAU baseball on Facebook.
After this weekend, the Owls will hit the road for the next four starting with a Tuesday trip to Orlando to face UCF. They'll head to Texas next Friday to begin a three-game series with Rice.
Tickets can be purchased by calling
1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting FAU's baseball tickets website.