MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The first-place FAU softball team is ready for a three-game series at Middle Tennessee this weekend. The Owls and Blue Raiders will start the weekend set with game one on Friday at 7 p.m. eastern. Saturday’s game will start at 5 p.m. eastern time and the series finale will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.
SERIES WIN VS. WKU
The Owls (18-17, 6-3 C-USA) are coming off a series victory over WKU last time out. The Owls took game one, 1-0, and game three, 3-2. The Hilltoppers were receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches poll.
Lynn Gardner put forward two strong starts in the circle and pitched two complete games. Gardner threw her sixth shutout in the Friday night win and followed that up with her 12th complete game on Sunday. Gardner ranks sixth in the nation in shutouts.
SCORING EARLY IS KEY
FAU scored in the first inning in each game of the series this past weekend. The Owls have made a habit of taking early leads and capitalizing on them. FAU has scored 24 runs in the first inning and is 15-2 when scoring first.
Sara Berthiaume was responsible for three of those first-inning runs with an RBI triple in game one and a two-run home run in game two. Riley Olson plated two with an RBI double and came all the way around to score on an error in the first inning of game three.
SERIES HISTORY
FAU has handled Middle Tennessee in the past with a 33-13 all-time record in this head-to-head series. These two teams split a four-game set in 2021 with the Owls winning by 2-1 and 4-0 scores.
The Blue Raiders enter the weekend’s series with a 15-19 record including 2-4 in C-USA play.
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