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BOCA RATON – Pitcher Sean Labsan will get the start for FAU at Miami on Wednesday and it might not be long before he moves into the weekend rotation.

“Sean has the most experience on the staff so it would be nice to get him on the weekends,” FAU coach John McCormack said. “Especially with conference play starting, the weekend starts are different mentally, emotionally, and a guy that’s done it for a long time makes it a little bit easier.”

A senior, Labsan went 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA last season. He was slowed this spring by a pectoral strain, but has now made three starts, going 1-0.

McCormack shuffled his rotation this past weekend for the opening of Conference USA play, resulting in a sweep of Middle Tennessee.

Marc Stewart didn’t pitch during the midweek because there was only one game, and that start went to Labsan. To avoid skipping Stewart completely, McCormack gave him the Friday start, pushing Alex House, who had started every Friday night game of the season, to Saturday and Saturday starter Jake Miednik to Sunday. Nick Swan was bumped from the weekend rotation and is being skipped once again to give Labsan the Miami start.

Unlike recent years, FAU lacks a dominant starter. Among the starters Stewart’s 4.02 ERA leads the way. House sits at 4.76, with Miednik at 5.34.

“To me they are all interchangeable right now,” McCormack said. “No one has differentiated themselves where you say, this guy’s gotta go.”

Trending Topics:

• FAU’s defense isn’t doing much to help its pitchers. In 20 games this season the Owls have already committed 30 errors. Only Rice (37) and Western Kentucky (34) have committed more errors in Conference USA. Those two schools began conference play a combined 1-5.
• The Owls’ outfield has been particularly shaky this season. Center fielder Eric Rivera is taking poor routes to the ball and an erratic arm has led to four errors. Left fielder Gary Mattis, a converted middle infielder, is still learning the outfield. With Rivera sore from running into the outfield fence, Mattis played some center field this weekend and fared pretty well. McCormack believes the Owls are close to getting starting right fielder Jared Shouppe back. A hamstring injury has limited Shouppe to five starts this season.
• Good hitting can mask defensive miscues and pitching woes for a while, and the Owls have certainly swung some hot bats to start the season. FAU’s .320 team average is best among C-USA teams, as are their 31 homers and 115 walks. Right fielder David Miranda, Shouppe’s replacement, leads C-USA with a .733 slugging percentage and is seventh with a .383 batting average. Catcher Kevin Abraham leads the conference with a .516 on-base percentage. Tyler Frank’s 24 RBI leads the conference and the 23 runs he’s scored is third best. Frank, Mattis, Miranda and Esteban Puerta are part of a group of players tied for third in the conference with five homers. Austin Langham leads C-USA with 19 walks.

Hit the Road: FAU will play consecutive road games this week for the first time this season. Following Wednesday’s game at Miami the Owls embark on a weekend series at UAB. The trip to Birmingham will be the first time the Owls leave the state of Florida this season.

From the Circle: Conference USA named FAU’s Tatum Buckley its softball pitcher of the week. She threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against Fordham, then tossed a complete game four-hitter in a 2-1 win over Illinois St. later that day. Buckley tossed two more complete games over the weekend, both FAU wins. After losing five consecutive games, the Owls have rebounded to win eight of 10. With Kylee Hanson expected to be sidelined for another couple weeks with an ankle injury, the Owls need all the pitching help they can get.

Around the League: The weekend sweep of MTSU put FAU atop the C-USA standings, tied with Southern Miss and Old Dominion. The bigger surprise, however, is at the bottom of the standings. Rice, generally a national powerhouse, found itself on the wrong end of Old Dominion’s sweep and is only 6-16 overall – a record that includes losses to Lamar and Texas St. Those Owls do have two wins over Stanford, though.