FAU – UCF MIDWEEK GAME
Date: Tuesday, March 28
Location: Boca Raton, Fla.
Site: FAU Baseball Stadium
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video: FAUSports.TV
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Starting Pitchers
RHP Danny Trehey (FAU) vs. LHP Cameron Crain (UCF)
Cameron Crain will make his first start of the season for the Knights. Over five appearances in relief, Crain has a 4.66 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 6 hits in 9.2 innings. He is holding opposing hitters to a .188 batting average on the season. His two previous outings have been his strongest this season, as he gave up no runs on one single in 4.1 innings and notched 5 strikeouts. Last year, Crain made 10 starts in 22 appearances with a 3.38 ERA in his first season with UCF.
Danny Trehey is a junior right-hander in his first season with FAU. The transfer from Johnson Community College is making his debut as an Owl. In three years at JCC, Trehey had a 3.87 ERA, accumulating 117 strikeouts and allowing 32 earned runs through 74.1 innings of work. He started 6 games over 38 appearances and posted a 6-2 record, notching 11 saves.
Series History
Formerly conference opponents in the Trans American Athletic Conference/Atlantic Sun Conference, and again in Conference USA for a season in 2013, the Knights and Owls are nearing 90 matchups all-time stretching back to their first meeting in 1984. FAU leads UCF all-time in the series, 48-39.
Earlier this season, the Owls won 13-3 at John Euliano Park in UCF's first midweek game and first loss of the season. UCF and FAU have split the series since 2018, each team taking five of their 10 meetings prior to this year. Three times in recent history, in 2019, 2016 and 2014, the Knights have dropped the first contest at home against FAU and secured a victory in the road game in the same season.
Scouting the Owls
FAU has a 15-10 record on the season. Like UCF, the Owls have proven to be a power-hitting offense, owning a .474 SLG% with six triples and 33 home runs. The team has a combined batting average of .287. Noah Schanuel leads the Owls' offense with an impressive .451/.603/.902 slash line, batting in 29 runs and drawing 27 walks in 25 games while striking out only nine times.
FAU has a team ERA of 4.93. Their most reliable bullpen arm is Sam Drumheller who has pitched 14 innings over 13 appearances in relief, posting a 1.29 ERA and 1.21 WHIP.
After snapping a four-game losing streak, the Owls swept the weekend against conference foe Middle Tennessee and enter today's contest looking to extend their three-game win streak.
Scouting the Knights
The Knights are 16-8 on the season. Offensively, UCF has put up some impressive numbers, including the home run total of 49 through 24 games which ranks 9th nationally. The Knights also rank 8th nationally in home runs per game with 2.04 and have a .534 slugging percentage as a team. The Black and Gold have a combined .302 batting average and a .399 on base percentage.
The Knights offense is spearheaded by veteran Ben McCabe, who leads the team in multiple offensive categories including batting average (.438), runs (31), hits (39), home runs (10), total bases (77), slugging percentage (.865) and on base percentage (.510). He leads the American Athletic Conference in each of these categories. McCabe is also 5-5 in stolen bases and tied for the team lead in hit by pitch (6) with Tom Josten.
Freshman Drew Faurot has been a breakout addition to the Knights lineup, leading the team with 26 RBI and hitting .295. The shortstop has belted eight home runs in his first 24 games, tied for second on the team and has hit two grand slams.
The Knights pitching staff has a combined 5.14 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Ruddy Gomez and Dom Stagliano lead the staff in victories with four, tied for No. 25 in the nation. Also ranking nationally is closer Kyle Kramer, who is tied No. 3 in saves with six on the season.
The Knights are coming off a 1-3 week after dropping their first road game of the season to UNF and falling to Maryland in their three-game weekend series. UCF looks to jump back into the win column in Boca tonight.
Up Next
American Athletic Conference play begins on Friday as UCF prepares to host rival South Florida for their first weekend series of the year. The Knights and Bulls will play three, seeing action Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) at John Euliano Park.
