The FAU Owls are back in the AAC Baseball Tournament and will play the Wichita Shockers on Wednesday at 1 p.m. to kick off postseason play.
The Owls and the Shockers met in Wichita just a few weeks ago with FAU winning the series, taking two out of three from the Shockers.
After a disappointing end to the season in which the Owls got swept by East Carolina at home, it’s a new season for FAU as everyone starts 0-0 on Wednesday.
“Not an ideal way to finish the regular season,” FAU head coach John McCormack said. “Thursday was our best chance to get a win. It just got away from us. We will just have to wipe it from our memories and get ready for Wednesday.”
The Owls finished the season sixth in the AAC with a 12-15 conference record and a 28-27 overall record. Offensively, FAU was led by Ian Collier, Michael Perazza, John Romano, and John Martinez. Collier led the Owls with eight home runs while Martinez led with 38 RBI’s. Perazza led the team with a .321 batting average.
FAU ace and Friday night starter James Litman who was one of the best pitchers in the AAC this season. The sophomore finished the season 8-3 with a 3.66 ERA. Litman was sixth in the conference in ERA, second in wins, and third in strikeouts with 73. Kide Adetuyi (2-2, 4.33 ERA) and Zach Kilby (2-2, 4.34 ERA) also contributed to the Owls success on the bump.
Litman will be in line to start the game on Wednesday.
Last season, the Owls entered the tournament as the second-best seed and went 1-2. This season, FAU enters as the sixth seed in its opening game with Wichita State.
It has been seven years since FAU has had any postseason success, making the NCAA regional as Conference USA champions.
Could this be the year the Owls break that seven-year drought? We’ll find out on Wednesday afternoon in Clearwater.
The AAC Baseball Tournament uses a single-elimination system, meaning a loss in any round immediately eliminates a team from the championship.