Florida Atlantic baseball advanced to the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament after defeating Old Dominion University 6-2 Friday afternoon in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The win for the  Owls (35-20-1) sets up a rematch with sixth-seeded Rice University, who defeated FAU 5-3 in the conference opener two days ago. Rice is still undefeated in the tourney, defeating both Old Dominion (37-21) and FAU.

The win over the Monarchs never looked in doubt today after FAU took a 2-0 lead in the third via RBI singles from seniors Stephen Kerr and junior David Miranda. Kerr later had an RBI single in the fifth, giving the Owls a commanding 3-0 lead.

After a wild pitch by Old Dominion’s Morgan Maguire, Miranda score to make it 4-0. One play later, freshman Eric Rivera got hit by the ball, allowing senior Esteban Puerta to score and add another run.

The Monarchs would pull within three after scoring two runs in the eighth to set up a possible comeback, but FAU held on. Sophomore Tyler Frank scored an insurance one in the top of the ninth, while Old Dominion went down in order in the bottom of the inning to close the win.

Frank was 3-for-5 on the day and Miranda finished 2-for-4 with one RBI. Junior Jake Miednik pitched seven and a 1/3rd  innings for the Owls and allowed just four hits while giving up only two runs.

The rematch between FAU and Rice is set for May 27 at 10:00 a.m.

Hans Belot Jr. is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @Don_Phenom_.