The Tribune

BJ Murray continued his power hitting display in a season of milestones for the FAU Owls.

Murray hit his team-leading 14th home run of the year in the regular season finale, the Owls’ 3-0 win over the Miami Hurricanes at Alex Rodriguez Park in Miami, Florida.

His solo shot came in the eighth inning to provide run support for an Owls’ bullpen that allowed just six hits on the evening.

FAU concluded the regular season 30-23.

The Owls are off until the opening matchup of the 2021 Conference USA Championship.

The game against the Old Dominion Monarchs is set for 9am on Wednesday, May 26.

In the preseason rankings, the league’s coaches voted the Owls to finish first in the C-USA East Division. They eventually finished third behind Charlotte (37-16) and Old Dominion (36-14).

The top eight teams following the regular season will advance to play a double-elimination tournament with a single-elimination championship game.

The 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Baseball Championship will be hosted by Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana.

The Owls head into the conference tournament with wins in five of their last seven games. “Offensively we were able to get some hits when it counted,” FAU head coach John McCormack said. “Nice way to end the regular season and head to the C-USA Tournament.”

Murray’s 14 home runs led the Owls and finished second in C-USA. In 53 games, all starts, Murray hit .316 and also led the team with 116 total bases and slugging percentage (.601). He finished second on the Owls in OPS (1.029), runs scored (46), hits (61) and RBI (53).

His quick start to the season began with his production at the plate to lead the Owls to a 2-1 series opening win over then No.24 ranked Central Florida Knights.

Murray hit .312 with a 1.040 OPS, six RBI, one double, one triple, one home-run, and four runs scored. His season was highlighted by a four-game stretch where he hit a home run in every game of a series against Charlotte and hit .467 with seven hits and eight RBI.

Murray recorded a hit in 10 of his last 11 games and finished with 19 multi-hit games on the season.