College Baseball Preview: FAU vs Miami
FAU opens up their first matchup of four against Miami this season at FAU Baseball Stadium. The Owls enter this historic matchup with a record of 22-71 all time against Miami and an 8-6 record going into the game tonight. After scoring a season high 24 runs in their rubber match against FIU on Sunday, the Owls look to keep the bats hot and continue to shut down the opposing teams bats as well.
Miami enters this game with a 9-6 record and wins over ranked teams like Florida and the University of Virginia. The Hurricanes will have to play the Owls tonight and then go on to host the #15 ranked (per D1Baseball Top 25) North Carolina Tar Heels this weekend.
The Owls and Hurricanes faced each other four times in the 2023 season. In those four games, both teams would win two and lose two, with each team putting up a minimum of five runs in each game.
While it’s a new year and a new season for both teams, expect the scores to look similar. Both of these teams can straight up hit. The Owls currently have six hitters who still hit for a batting average over the .300 threshold, with three hitting above a .325 clip. Miami also has some great hitters as well, with Daniel Cuvet and Jason Torres hitting above a .400 average.
The X-factor for the Owls at the plate is none other than John Schroeder. Schroeder hit grand slams in back to back games on Saturday and Sunday this weekend against FIU, and tallied ten RBIs across the entire series. The player to keep a close eye on yet again is Carter Brady. Brady managed to raise his batting average up to .297 and after homering twice in the series finale on Sunday, he looks to stay hot and help propel the Owls past the Hurricanes.
After using C.J. Williams, Trey Beard, and Tyler Murphy against FIU last weekend, the Owls will need to put together some quality innings pitched, and limit the runs from Miami to win this one. If they can limit Miami to under five runs in this game, there should be no reason FAU can’t go into this weekend with a win.
After their matchup against Florida was canceled, another win against a power five program would be huge for FAU heading into AAC conference play.