Who: The Florida A&M (FAMU) Rattlers compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and enter today's game with a 8-20 record (0-3 MEAC). They completed the 2010 season with a 10-31-1 record. The Rattlers are a lacking veteran leadership as the team has only 6 seniors with just 1 being a pitcher.
History/Common Opponents: The Panthers lead the all-time series by 9-4 and have won 4 straight games. The last meeting between these two ball clubs was in 2009 when Georgia State completed a 2-game season sweep over the Rattlers by scores of 22-6 (in Tallahassee, FL) and 4-1 (at Panthersville). In the 2011 season both teams have played Mercer and Alabama State. GSU defeated Mercer 14-5 and Alabama State 14-4. FAMU has lost 4 games to Mercer this season by a combined score of 57-12. FAMU lost to Alabama State 12-10 last week.
FAMU at the Plate: The Rattlers are batting .268 as a team and scoring 4 runs per game. 80% of their hits come in form of singles and they have only 5 home runs after 840 at-bats on the season. Base stealing is not a huge threat as they have only 19 on the season. Junior outfielder Jarryd Reid is the Rattlers only starter (with over 20 game starts) hitting above .300, at .391. He is slugging .609 and accounts for 12% of the team's hits including 4 of the team's 9 triples. In addition, Jarryd is the team's leading base stealer with 5 steals in 7 attempts. Cory Franklin is leading the FAMU lineup in RBI's with 17 total on a .280 BA and 2 home runs.
FAMU on the Mound: The Rattlers give up over 8.5 runs per game on a 7.71 team ERA. Clean defense is not a strong point behind the pitching staff as the team has committed 76 errors on the season (nearly 3 per game). The starting pitcher is not yet known but only 2 pitchers have below a 5.40 ERA. Thomas Barwick who has 5 starts with a 2-2 record and 3.58 ERA and reliever Steven Dollar with 11 appearances and 16 innings pitched. Dollar has allowed 12 runs (6 earned) and is 1-0. Opposing batters are hitting .324 against the FAMU pitching staff and have belted 19 home runs in 28 games.
GSU at the Plate: The Panthers are batting .316 as a team and continue to be led by Brett Maxwell at .408 and Brandon Williams at .394. GSU is scoring just under 8 runs per game. Ryan Fleming continues to prove himself as the GSU power threat with now 6 home runs on the season and a team-high 29 RBI's. Fleming is slugging .667 on the season and has an on-base percentage near .500. The offense continues to be on a roll, not scoring under 6 runs since March 12th against Towson (5 scored) and under 8 runs only twice (both games scored 6) since then in 10 games. The Panthers are scoring 10.5 runs per game in that stretch. It seems as if the team has been able to adjust their offensive game plan to the new NCAA regulation bats.
GSU on the Mound: Over the same 10-game stretch mentioned above, the pitching staff has allowed 7.3 runs per game. This is being pulled up by a 10 run game against Murray State and VCU and a 17 run explosion by VCU this past Sunday. The team ERA was boosted (in a bad way) by the VCU series, now up to 4.28 on the season. The season average for runs allowed is still just above 5 which seems to be a number you can count on barring a pitching melt-down.
Will Campbell will get the start for the Panthers. Will is having an outstanding season so far with a 5-0 record on a 3.13 ERA. He has pitched 37.1 innings and allowed only 13 runs. Opposing batters are hitting only .180 against him. He has a WHIP of .88 and 22 strikeouts on the season. Will went 7.1 innings in his last outing against Kennesaw State last Wednesday and allowed 3 runs on only 4 hits. Two of those runs came after Will left the game leaving runners on 1st and 2nd. Look for the relief staff to get some work in to boost their confidence after having a rough VCU series.
Look for a lopsided score today as the Panthers should be able to pound on the Rattlers pitching staff. This will be important as the Panthers travel to Delaware for a 3-game CAA series Friday-Sunday. You want to enter that series feeling confident about seeing the ball well at the plate. I expect Will to have another stellar night on the mound. He's facing a far inferior opponent compared to his last outing so he just needs to cruise along at the same pace. The Panthers probably win tonight by setting a new season-high for run differential. This currently stands at 11 from the 17-6 victory over Murray State. GO PANTHERS!!!
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