Florida Baseball Preview: FAU has been a recent thorn for Gators

Florida baseball might be tempted to look at their upcoming opponent and ask themselves “Who?”

The FAU Owls, out of Boca Roton.

“Wait, who?”

Right, the Owls…

Taking FAU lightly would be a mistake, however, especially given Florida’s midweek struggles and FAU’s recent success against the Gators.

Florida Baseball: Who are you?

Florida comes into this two-game set with one of the most potent offenses in the nation. Averaging 11.3 runs per game, the Gators have scored the second most runs in the nation behind Wake Forest.

And given it’s a midweek series where pitching depth is going to be strained, the bats for Florida should be in full swing. FAU has yet to play a two-game midweek series, so while they have looked great against Miami and UCF, both of those were one-game outings.

But, FAU might just have a bullpen that is ready for the task.

The Owls will for sure throw Evan Waterbor in one of the games. The senior out of Trinity, FL has pitched 10 innings this season and has only surrendered two earned runs.

From there, FAU has used seven different relievers between their two midweek games, and almost all of them have held up.

Compared to the conga line of guys Kevin O’Sullivan has desperately tried to trot out of the Florida bullpen and it would seem this is an area the Owls have an advantage in.

Yet despite knocking off Miami and entering their weekend series against UConn with a 7-1 record, the Owls were swept by the Huskies.

And no, UConn is not some hidden baseball powerhouse.

So, all signs point to the two games between tonight and tomorrow being close affairs. FAU has only made it to double digits in runs twice this season and don’t have the bats that can keep up with Florida.

But Florida baseball also doesn’t have relievers that can get anyone out.

Plus, FAU has won two of the last three meetings between the two teams

So it’s okay to look at FAU and ask “Who are they?”

But do so at your  peril.