March 30, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format

FLORIDA ATLANTIC (16-9) @ #2 MIAMI (21-2)
April 1 | Mark Light Field (3,000) | Coral Gables, Fla.
TUE - 7 p.m. ET (LH Jeff Beliveau 1-1; 4.01 ERA) vs. (RH John Housey 2-0; 5.71 ERA)

After a three-year hiatus, FAU faces local rival the University of Miami Tuesday night at 7 p.m., the first of three midweek games this season against the 2nd-ranked Hurricanes. UM's Mark Light Field will be the setting for each of the next two games between the two clubs, playing again in Coral Gables next Wednesday April 9 before concluding the series at FAU Stadium Wednesday April 16. Miami is 21-2 and front-runners to win the ACC title.

THE SERIES: Since FAU turned Division I in 1994 the two teams have met 23 times (just three times in Boca Raton) with Miami owning a 20-3 all-time edge. Tuesday night's game with UM will be the first of three games FAU will play against the Hurricanes this season- the first time since 2001 the teams will play a three-game season set. The two teams have not met since 2004 and have not played a regular season game since 2003, a 5-3 FAU road victory. FAU has played NCAA Regional games at Coral Gables in 2004, 2003, 2000 and 1999.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC (16-9; 6-4 SBC) @ SOUTH ALABAMA (16-12; 5-4 SBC)
April 4-6 | Stanky Field (3,500) | Mobile, Ala.
FRI - 6 p.m. CT | SAT - 2 p.m. CT | SUN - 1 p.m CT

FAU resumes Sun Belt Conference play this Friday, April 4 at South Alabama in Mobile. FAU will be making its first-ever trip to Mobile and South Alabama's Stanky Field (3,500 capacity). The Jaguars are coming off a three-game series sweep of Arkansas State- its first SBC sweep since April of 2006. South Alabama plays an 18-10 Auburn team Tuesday night at home before hosting the weekend set with FAU.

THE SERIES: In just its second season in the Sun Belt Conference FAU has faced South Alabama just once, winning two-of-three in a three-game weekend series in Boca Raton last season... scores went 9-3. 6-5 and 9-11.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: A live audio broadcast for Tuesday night's game with Miami will be available via Florida Atlantic's official athletics website (FAUSPORTS.com). Steve Bishop (play-by-play) will call the action. Additionally, live play-by-play scoring for the Miami game and all three games at South Alabama will be provided via GAMETRACKER on FAUSPORTS.com.

HEAD COACH Kevin Cooney: 17 winning seasons in 20 years. Florida Atlantic's Kevin Cooney - now in his 21st season at FAU, and 25th overall - owns an 872-512-9 all-time record as a head coach (732-462-4 at FAU). He ranked 24th among active Division I coaches for career victories entering the 2008 season. Cooney has been remarkable in transitioning the FAU program into one of the top Division I-A teams in the country. Since taking over at FAU in 1988 (leading the Owls into Division I-A play in 1994) FAU has enjoyed 17 winning campaigns in 20 seasons. Under Cooney's direction, FAU has posted nine consecutive winning seasons, averaging an exceptional 41 wins per year since 1999. In just 14 years as a Division I-A program, Cooney has guided FAU to six NCAA Regional appearances, including an NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2002.

THE VERY LATEST: Florida Atlantic was atop the Sun Belt standings at 6-1 before being swept in a three-game conference series at Louisiana-Monroe (7-6, 3-2 and 13-5)... FAU came into the weekend having won seven straight and 16-of-19... FAU lost two one-run games to ULM... Four of FAU's nine losses this seaon have been by one-run...Coming into the ULM series having out-homered its opponents 47-28, FAU was out-homered by ULM 6-1... Freshman RH Mike Gipson (2-0; 4.26 ERA) got his first career start last Saturday and pitched well through four-plus innings but did not factor into the decision... LF Jeremy Griffiths (.380 BA) was FAU's most productive hitter in the ULM series, going 6-for-13 (.462 BA) with three doubles and four runs.

OFFENSE: FAU hits .329 as a team and scores 9.3 runs per game...Posted double-figure numbers in hits in 12 consecutive games from March 5-22... Senior OF Mike McKenna leads the club with a .408 average and ranked first in the nation in HR (13) and RBI (43) when the first statistical rankings were published by the NCAA on March 26... McKenna upped his RBI total to 46 with three more this weekend against ULM and has 20 RBI in just 10 SBC games this season... 2B William Block (.321 BA) has scored 34 runs in 25 games to lead the team in that category...LF Jeremy Griffiths (.380 BA) went 6-for-13 (.462 BA) with three doubles and four runs during FAU's series at ULM... Griffiths ranks second on the team with a .380 batting average and has assumed the second spot in the Owls' batting order...C Alex Silversmith (.306 BA) leads all players with a .444 average in FAU's 10 Sun Belt games... FAU has been playing without senior 3B Daniel Cook (.313 BA) who is expected to miss significant time after fouling a ball off his foot Friday March 14 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

PITCHING: Staff ace RH Mickey Storey (2-2; 4.13 ERA) will try to rebound from a losing decision last Friday against ULM in which he allowed seven earned runs in four innings... Freshman RH Mike Gipson (2-0; 4.26 ERA) was effective in his first career start Saturday, striking out six in four-plus innings of three-hit baseball... Projected Tuesday starter LH Jeff Beliveau (1-1; 4.01 ERA) has not allowed an earned run and has totaled eight strikeouts in just three and two thirds innings dating back to his last start March 24- a game which was halted by rain... Freshman RH Glen Troyanowski (3-0; 1.35 ERA) threw two innings of spotless relief in two appearances last weekend against ULM... Junior LH Adam Morrison (1-1; 3.94 ERA) is the staff leader in ERA and pitched three hitless innings of long-relief Friday allowing FAU a chance at a comeback against ULM in the series opener.

1,000 WINS: FAU won its 1,000 game in program history last week (March 23, 2008)... a 10-7 victory over Middle Tennessee State at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton. FAU owns an impressive 1,000-569-6 (.635) all-time record. 732 of those wins have come under the direction of head coach Kevin Cooney, who has led FAU to an average of 35 wins per season since taking over the program in 1988.

NCAA'S LEADING OFFENSE: Last season the Owls were fourth nationally in batting ave. (.341), second in slugging % (.549), eighth in scoring (8.1 runs per game), third in homeruns (1.6 per game), and 18th in doubles (2.24 per game). They have kept that trend up in 2008...(.329 BA), (.540 SLG%), (1.9 HR per game), (9.3 runs per game).

NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS (NCAA RANK): As of the NCAA's first statistical report on March 26th... TEAM- 47 HR (3), HR p/g 2.14 (3), Runs 221 (5), SLG%, .559 (8), Runs p/g 10 (9), Hits 263 (10), Batting Ave .335 (19)... Pitching K p/g 8.5 (34)... Mike McKenna - 13 HR (1), 43 RBI (1), 1.95 RBI p/g (1), Total Bases 82 (2), SLG% .891 (8), Hits 39 (9), Runs 29 (17)... William Block - Runs 32 (4), Runs p/g 1.45 (32).

McKENNA SWEEPS NATIONAL PLAYER OF WEEK HONORS: Senior OF Mike McKenna was honored as Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Louisville Slugger's National Player of the Week (3/24), the National Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week (3/25) and PingBaseball.com named him as the publication's national `Spotlight Performer of the Week' (3/25). McKenna went 12-for-22 (.545 BA) with seven home runs and 19 RBI to lead the Owls to a perfect 6-0 record and series sweep over Middle Tennessee State. He homered three times in FAU's series-opener against MTST, and hit nine homeruns and totaled 26 RBI during FAU's 10-game homestand.

COOK, STOREY PASS ON MLB: Both infielder Daniel Cook (Miami, FL) and pitcher Mickey Storey (Deerfield Beach, FL) passed up an opportunity to turn pro this summer to return to FAU for the 2008 season. Storey was the first of three FAU pitchers to be selected in the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, chosen by the Minnesota Twins in the 22nd round. Cook was taken by the Washington Nationals in the 20th round. The outfielder was a Second-Team All-Conference selection after hitting .349 with six home runs, 39 RBI and 15 stolen bases.

FIORENTINO EDGED OUT FOR OAKLAND A'S LAST ROSTER SPOT: The Oakland A's brought Florida Atlantic's Jeff Fiorentino (2002-2004) to Japan as part of their extended roster. Fiorentino, FAU's MVP in 2004, did not make the A's final 25-man roster, as the team was allowed to bring three extra players to Japan and declare three players (probably starting pitchers) inactive for each game. CF Fiorentino was edged out by Ryan Sweeney for the team's last bench spot in preparation for opening day.

McKENNA NAMED SBC PLAYER OF WEEK TWICE (3/3) & (3/24): Senior OF Mike McKenna has been named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week twice this season, first on March 3rd and again on March 24th. McKenna went 11-of-23 (.478 BA), (3 HR) (21 TB), (9 RBI), (.913 SLG%) in five games from Feb. 27-March 2, homering in three different games and enjoying multi-hit games in all five games- helping FAU go 5-0. From March 17-23, McKenna homered seven times in six games, including hitting three in consecutive at-bats against MTST on Friday March 21 en route to winning the league's weekly award for the second time.

SUN BELT'S TOP HITTER: OF Mike McKenna (.408 BA), the league's top returning hitter from 2007 (.413 BA), is on pace to eclipse his outstanding run-producing numbers from a year ago. McKenna currently leads the team and league in HR (13), RBI (46) and total bases (87).

FAU AMONG NATION'S TOP PROGRAMS: Florida Atlantic University was included in Collegiate Baseball's "Fabulous 40 Pre-Season NCAA Division I Poll," receiving votes as one of the nation's top programs. Over the past nine seasons, the Owls have averaged 41 wins per year, including five NCAA Regional trips and an NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2002.

PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT PLAYERS: Florida Atlantic University's preseason All-America outfielder Mike McKenna and senior pitcher Michael Obradovich were named to the 2008 All-Sun Belt Conference preseason baseball team.

ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES: Both William Block and Mike McKenna were named to the 2008 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Third Team. Block was named to the Brooks Wallace Watch List and McKenna is a candidate for the Golden Spikes Award- each honor given to the nation's top college player. McKenna was also named to the Wallace Watch List, and garnered preseason All-America honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.