Florida A&M baseball must have short term memory as Bethune-Cookman come to town
It's time for Florida A&M baseball (25-26, 18-9 SWAC) to reconvene.
Last weekend, the Rattlers went to Braddy Field at Jackson State (26-25, 13-14 SWAC) and returned to Tallahassee swept by the SWAC opponent in their penultimate regular season series.
"I'm very disappointed in the way we played," Rattlers Head Coach Jamey Shouppe said. "We didn't play well defensively and that's what killed us.
"We didn't hit at all or play good defense but the pitchers threw alright. Hunter Viets had a good start and Kelyn Fox gave up eight runs but only one was earned. Our defense was bad. It's like what I said from day one, we can beat anybody if we play well and get beat by anybody if we don't play well."
The three losses knocked the Rattlers down to No. 2 in the SWAC East a week after they jumped to No. 1 following a sweep on Alabama State (28-22, 19-7 SWAC) on May 8.
"We came off a good series against Alabama State," Rattlers first baseman Grant Rowell said. "Then we came to Jackson State with a chance to go into the SWAC tournament first place and things just didn't go our way.
"We didn't play the way that we're capable of as a team. It wasn't the best weekend but we're going to do our best to flush this series and get back to the basics to play our kind of baseball."
A week out from the SWAC tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 25 at Regions Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the Rattlers are now 1.5 games back of first place in the East behind Alabama State.
With Bethune-Cookman (24-28, 18-10 SWAC) coming to town for one last conference series on May 19-21, the Rattlers will have an opportunity to shake off their Jackson State dismay, reclaim the No. 1 spot in the division, and avoid falling to No. 3.
"We've played some good and bad baseball," Shouppe said. "Last weekend was bad baseball. Everything was great against Alabama State but wasn't at Jackson State."
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Grant Rowell: 'Put it all on the line'
This is the last ride for first baseman Grant Rowell.
The senior out of Chipley High School has logged 48 games this season and is projected to be one of five Rattlers to appear in 50-plus contests at the conclusion of the Bethune-Cookman series.
Alluding to his final year of playing on the collegiate baseball field, Rowell is doing whatever it takes to assist his team in reaching its highest ceiling.
"I'm doing my best to put it all on the line," Rowell said. "This is my last year of college baseball so I'm showing up every day ready to work and help the team win.
"I've done my best to keep a level head all season through the good times and the bad."
Rowell has been a constant on both sides of the ball for the Rattlers.
He leads all qualifiers for the team with a .333 batting average. Rowell is tied for first with LJ Bryant in RBI (35) and second in hits (61) and runs (34). His three homeruns are fourth on the team.
On the defensive end, Rowell shines for the Rattlers, representing the team with the sixth most putouts (319) in the SWAC to pair with his top-ten spot in the conference with 18 double plays.
One does not go without the other for Rowell. He feels that both phases of the game have to keep rolling for the Rattlers to experience success while not getting too satisfied or grounded.
"We know that defense leads to offense," Rowell said. "We didn't do a good job of that against Jackson State but throughout the whole year I think we've done alright.
"Personally, I try to take it play-by-play and give it all I got."
The final countdown
Following this series, the SWAC tournament is on the way.
But the Rattlers aren't looking past their in-state conference rivals Bethune-Cookman.
Regathering is the main focus as they're fresh off being swept at Jackson State.
"We'll keep it together," Shouppe said. "But we got to regroup quickly because we got our rivals coming in and then the tournament next weekend."
The Wildcats are creeping on the Rattlers, sitting a half game behind them for the No. 2 spot in the SWAC East.
To completely avoid dropping in the standings ahead of the tournament, the Rattlers will need to pick up two wins out of the three games against the Wildcats.
"If you can't get up for your rivalry and play well against those guys, you got no business playing the game of baseball," Shouppe said.
The last time the Rattlers and the Bethune-Cookman met, they left Daytona Beach with a clean sweep over the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-1 series win against visiting Alabama State.
Along with their initial matchups against Jackson State, the Rattler-Wildcat series will have the distinction of lasting from Thursday through Saturday, their second-such series of the season.
"Pitching wise it's kind of complicated now," Shouppe said. "Viets is our guy that usually starts a series for us but it's a short week because we're beginning on Thursday against Bethune.
"With Friday's game at Jackson State being rained out, that pushed him to Saturday. It's a short week of rest turned into a shorter week after getting pushed back a day. We'll figure out our rotation soon."
Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman
Thursday: 5 p.m. at Moore-Kittles Field
Friday: 5 p.m. at Moore-Kittles Field
Saturday: 1 p.m. at Moore-Kittles Field
Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU hosts Bethune-Cookman in final regular season SWAC series
