FAU baseball upsets No. 20 Miami in Boca Raton

Eddie Cassidy is congratulated by a teammate after
crossing home plate during a 7-4 win over Miami.

After falling to the top-ranked Florida Gators in Jupiter the previous night, the Owls returned home to defeat the No. 20 Miami Hurricanes 7-4 on Wednesday night.

Alex Hudak went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double to lead the FAU (4-2) over Miami.

The Owls scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back.

"The good start helped us because we were able to relax and play our game," said coach John McCormack.

Winning pitcher Ryan Garton struck out three hitters in four scoreless innings for the Owls.

Eddie Cassidy also hit a home run in the bottom of the eight inning to help FAU secure the victory.

Quick Notes:

• This was FAU's first win against Miami in the last eight tries.
• The last year FAU defeated Miami in Boca Raton was 2001.
• Miami leads the all-time series over FAU 47-9.

Men's hoops defeats Troy to win Sun Belt Conference crown

The men's basketball team celebrates while posing for a photo after
its' 77-60 over Troy on Thursday.

In their final home game of the regular season, FAU (20-9) rewarded the home crowd on senior night with a 77-60 win over Troy (8-19) Thursday night.
Brett Royster, who along with fellow senior Justin Davis were honored before the game, finished with a double-double by scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Shavar Richardson who made his first start of the season, scored a game-high 19 points to lead FAU over the Trojans.
The win allowed the Owls to clinch the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and an automatic bid to the National Invitational Tournament in New York.
With one more game remaining at South Alabama on Sunday, FAU will try to improve its' chances of being selected to the NCAA Tournament next month.

FAU falls to top ranked Gators in Jupiter

With a record crowd in attendance the Owls baseball team fell to the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators 13-2 at Roger Dean Stadium.
Tuesday's game had a playoff atmosphere with a crowd of 3,043 in town to see FAU take on the nation's top ranked baseball team.
Although the Gators proved to be too much for the Owls, jumping out to a 3-0 first inning lead, the game was a great experience for players and fans alike.
"It's another game and you have to dust yourself off and keep on playing," coach John McCormack told fauowlsaccess.com.
Nathan Pittman and Eddie Cassidy hit solo home runs for FAU late in the game, but the Owls pitching staff surrendered 18 hits and committed four errors against the Gators.

“That’s a very good team over there in that dugout and we certainly can’t come out here and give them extra outs,”  McCormack said.

The Owls are back on the field tonight at 6:30 against the Miami Hurricanes in Boca Raton.

FAU signs 24 new recruits

With the chance to play in a brand new stadium as its main selling point, coach Howard Schnellenberger and his staff convinced 24 high school athletes to play football in Boca Raton next season.
Since key players like wide receiver Lester Jean, Rob Housler, and Jeff Van Camp have graduated and will try their hand in the NFL, the coaching staff made it a priority to replace them this off-season.
Some key facts about the 2011 class:

• The team signed four wide receivers and all of them are 6'2 or taller.
• They also signed five linebackers to correlate with their switch from 4-3 to a 3-4 defense.
• Seven players are from Miami-Dade County but only one is from Palm Beach County.

The Owls signed a ton of receivers to try and deal with the loss of Jean, who was the team's most productive wide receiver last season finishing with 64 receptions for 988 yards and eight touchdowns. The returning player with the best stats behind Jean was sophomore Deandre Richardson who finished with 12 catches for 114 yards and no touchdowns.

On defense, the team stockpiled on linebackers to add depth as the team transitions from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense. The 3-4 defense requires three defensive lineman and four linebackers on the field so it should be interesting to see if any of the new recruits earns any playing time this season, particulary Pompano Beach Ely linebacker Conard Johnson who was listed as a three-star recruit on rivals.com.

The team also made some inroads down in Miami bringing in seven players from Miami-Dade County. That includes two players from the Class 6A state football champion Miami Central Rockets. However, the team bucked a recent trend by only signing one player from the Palm Beach County area. In past years, Schnellenberger and his staff signed multiple recruits from the area.

For a complete list and quick bio on the future Owls check out FAU's athletic website.

Coach Jarvis captures win number 400

Anchored by the 15 points from sophomore Greg Gantt, the Owls basketball team handled North Texas 72-55 to give coach Mike Jarvis his 400th career coaching victory.
Not only did FAU (17-7) win a critical Sun Belt Conference game on the road, but they also ended a 17-game home winning streak for the Mean Green according to this article by Marcus Nelson from FAU Owl Access.
If the team keeps playing at a high level they should receive a bid to play in the 2011 NCAA Tournament next month.
But first things first, the Owls have a date Saturday against rival FIU at 8 p.m. in the FAU Arena, also known as "the Burrow."
Fans should be sure to wear red to support the team Saturday.