By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

THE ATHENS REGIONAL

The Schedule
Friday
12 p.m.
Florida State vs. Florida Atlantic
ESPN3
7 p.m.
Mercer vs. Georgia
SEC Network; www.sportsmic.com
Saturday
1 p.m.
Friday losers
7 p.m.
Friday winners
Sunday
12 p.m.
Saturday 1 p.m. winner vs. Saturday 7 p.m. loser
6 p.m.
Sunday noon winner vs. Saturday 7 p.m. winner
Monday
4 p.m.


The Stories
Bulldogs have an experience advantage
Notebook

Florida Atlantic looking to make a name against power (who didn’t want to play at FAU)
Shutout in championship game a motivator for FAU

Remember when Mike Martin almost became a Bulldog?
Mike Martin’s number and nickname
The swan song
And a legacy to remember

Mercer will use its Gwinnett connections

Regional overview: D1baseball.com

Game notes packages
Georgia
Florida Atlantic
Florida State
Mercer


The Teams
Georgia
Record: 44-15
RPI: 3
Central Georgia connections: P Tony Locey, Jr., Houston County
FYI: Georgia is a host and national seed for two straight years for the first time in program history.
Scouting Report: If Georgia’s starting pitchers – beginning with Locey – get to the sixth, expect the Bulldogs to win. Locey has gone at least six innings nine times, and Emerson Hancock has done that 11 times.
            The bullpen relies on Aaron Schunk (12 saves, 21.2 IP) and Zac Kristofak (6 saves, 45 IP) to close things out, but there is depth between them and the starters.
            The primary question regarding the Bulldogs is on offense, with only three over .300 and an offense with so-so power. But they haven’t been blanked since April 11 at Tennessee, in back to back games.
            Schunk is trouble when he’s not pitching, too, batting .336 with 12 doubles, 11 homers, and 45 RBI. Li Talley and John Cable are also over .300. Tucker Maxwell is the main stealing threat, but he hits .228.
            They’re 7-3 in their last 10 games, and will be well rested and ready to rock.

Florida Atlantic
Record: 40-19
RPI: 37
Central Georgia connections: None.
FYI: Florida Atlantic’s first year of baseball was in Mike Martin’s second year as head coach at Florida State.
Scouting Report: The Owls bring the highest batting average in the regional, but they’re last in homers and steals, so this is a real small-ball team.
            Eight players with at least 139 at-bats are hitting over. 300, and only Eric Rivera has more than five steals. FAU has several times gone several games – six games twice and nine games once, for example - this season without stealing a base.
            FAU is solid defensively, and has an ace in the pen with Zach Schneider with 15 saves. The Owls run out a lot of pitchers; nine have at least 30 innings, most in the regional.
            They’ve only been shut out once, and that was in their last game, 4-0 to Southern Miss in the C-USA tournament.
            Rivera is at .340 with six homers and 45 RBI, Francisco Urbaez next at .330, with 10 homers and 41 RBI.
            The Owls finished well after starting off 3-6, and are 2-2 against the SEC. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 games.

Florida State
Record: 36-21
RPI: 50
Central Georgia connections: None
FYI: Mike Martin has more wins than any NCAA coach in any sport. Ever. Period.
Scouting Report: There was suspense whether the Seminoles would have their remarkable streak of 42 straight NCAA Tournaments broken, and prematurely end the career of retiring head coach Mike Martin.
            Think about that, 42 straight. There are teams in the regionals who haven’t been playing college baseball that long.
            And he is a mind-blowing 2,023-734-4 at at his alma mater.
FSU was clearly a bubble team, among last four in. This is their lowest seed under Martin, another astounding number. And barring a stunning run, the Seminoles’ streak of 42 straight 40-win seasons will come to an end.
They have been inconsistent, so it wouldn’t surprise close observers if the Seminoles went two-and-out or reached the regional final. More than the other three teams, they need a solid first start on the mound. They struggle after starters CJ Van Eyk and Drew Parrish.
But there will certainly be an emotional attachment of the crowd, especially in the opener, and adrenaline may play a bigger role for FSU than the other three teams.

Mercer
Record: 35-27
RPI: 107
Central Georgia connections: P Tanner Hall, Jr., Houston County; C Leyton Pinckney, Fr., Veterans; P Matt Blair, RS Fr., Tattnall; C Bailey Vickers, Fr., Washington County
FYI: Mercer is one of four teams to have won 35 games 10 straight years, and is joined by Florida State in the elite group.
Scouting Report: A good bit was made about the Bears major mid-season slump, and then how they burst out of it and played quality ball down the stretch.
            Their Southern Conference Tournament performance won’t be forgotten in the halls for awhile.
            But here’s why that second-half surge shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise: Mercer lost preseason all-conference pick and third-team All-American Le Bassett to a season-ending injury in the preseason, and pro prospect Brandon Michie to an injury suffered at the end of last summer.
            Take two of your top players out of the lineup, and there’s an adjustment period. Had the Bears had just one of the two, picture this as the team that’s gone 22-11 since the start of April, six of those losses by three runs or less.
            Mercer seems to have found itself, and may now be of the level of a 40-win regular-season team, and one not to be overlooked.

The Friday Games
Florida State vs. Florida Atlantic
            These two teams, 430 miles and six-plus hours apart in Florida, haven’t played since 1998. And the Seminoles haven’t played the Owls since 1998.
            The Owls have no doubt been thinking about these snubs for a few days, ignoring the sentimentality of Mike Martin’s final games.
            Florida Atlantic is the better team, and has a quality NCAA Tournament history since going Division I, with a 21-23 record, and only one 0-2 (Atlanta, 2002).
Mercer vs. Georgia
            The first two innings will be big.
            For one, there’ll be a little buzz about the former Houston County Bears pitching against each other, which, of course, is only happening because Armstrong Atlantic State – the program that benefitted from loyalty – lost its program, turning Tanner Hall into a free agent.
            Hall has pitched at Florida State this year, and was huge in the tournament-clinching win. This stage is different, so him being calm early is a factor.
            Locey, too, has to avoid getting too amped up and overdoing it.
            Georgia won’t overlook Mercer, and Mercer won’t be dazzled in a place where it’s on a two-game win streak.