FIU wraps up the regular season portion of its schedule with a three-game series against Rice beginning Thursday night at Infinity Insurance Park. First pitch for the series opener is at 7 p.m.
The Panthers (25-25, 14-12 Conference USA) and the Owls (23-28-2, 11-14-2 C-USA) continue the series Friday at 6 p.m. and conclude the set Saturday at 12 p.m.
FIU will honor its three seniors, pitchers
Andrew George and
Chandler Raiden, and outfielder
Christian Khawam in a Senior Day ceremony Saturday before the first pitch.
Currently, FIU is tied with UTSA for the fifth seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament in Biloxi, Mississippi. However, the Roadrunners own the tiebreaker with the Panthers by winning the season series against FIU, 2-1.
The Panthers clinched a berth in the league championship last Sunday by defeating Western Kentucky and with Middle Tennessee losing to Florida Atlantic.
Depending on this weekend's results, FIU could enter the tournament as high as the No. 4 seed or as low as the No. 8 seed. Charlotte (16-11) is currently in fourth place and the 49ers won the season series from the Panthers, 2-1. Rice (11-14-2) is in seventh and UAB (12-15) is eighth.
Charlotte plays at UTSA in a three-game series this weekend, which could help FIU move up in seeding.
Rice is in a battle with three other teams for one of the final two spots in the tournament. UAB, Middle Tennessee and WKU are all still in contention for a tournament berth. Southern Miss (20-6), FAU (17-8-1) and Louisiana Tech (18-9) occupy the top three spots in the C-USA standings, respectively.
FIU swept WKU last weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Panthers punched their postseason ticket Sunday after
Logan Allen tossed eight shutout innings and struck out seven in an 8-4 win. Allen also was 7 for 10 in the first two games of the series with a home run and two doubles. Allen was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for his efforts. The freshman also garnered Perfect Game's Pitcher of the Week honor.
Eddie Silva hit his third home run of the weekend last Sunday and third in as many games. The junior second baseman had eight RBI against the Hilltoppers. Silva has 15 home runs to lead C-USA and is second in slugging percentage at .709.
Allen is fifth among C-USA pitchers with 81 strikeouts.
Andres Nunez is tied for sixth with his six wins.
Rice took two out of three games against UAB last weekend in Houston. The Owls lost their most recent game Tuesday against Houston. Right-hander Dane Acker pitched 6 1/3 relief innings and allowed one run in the series-clinching win over UAB last Sunday.
Ryan Chandler leads the Owls with a .349 average, which is sixth in C-USA. Chandler has the second most hits in the league with 75. Right-hander Matt Canterino (103 strikeouts) leads the Owls staff and is second in C-USA.
Rice leads the all-time series with FIU, 18-5. The series began in 1985. The Panthers won two out of three games against the Owls last season in Houston.
