FAU prepares for a strong showing in the Conference USA tournament.

With 36 wins and a second-place finish in one of the stronger conferences, the Florida Atlantic baseball team is feeling confident about their chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

Still, FAU would rather avoid leaving its fate in the hands of the selection committee. So the Owls are approaching the Conference USA Tournament as if they need to win it to earn a spot in the postseason. They open play against Florida International today at 10 a.m., at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss.

“We’re trying not to worry about that and just focus on the tournament itself,” FAU coach John Mc- Cormack said. “When you try to predict something, that’s when things go wrong. We’re here to win the tournament, and then we’ll deal with the NCAA stuff Sunday and Monday. We’re just going to take it one game at a time.”

After being left out of the NCAAs last year despite winning 35 games, the Owls are still considered a bubble team. They are No. 31 in the latest RPI ratings.

“You never feel great when you’re in the 30s in the RPI,” McCormack said. “For me, if you’re in the 20s, you feel good. If you’re in the teens, you feel great. Us being 31, it’s never an easy position to be in.”

The Owls split two games against FIU this season, with the final game of the series canceled because of rain. At 26-26, the Panthers have to win the tournament in order to make the postseason.

“It’s inevitable, being in the same league,” McCormack said of facing their conference rival. “We’re looking forward to it. They [FIU] are getting better. I like their club. They have some really good players, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”

The Owls will start Jake Miednik, who is 7-1 and leads the team with 79 strikeouts. This is just his second game back since being bothered by tendinitis the past month. Miednik allowed seven hits and one run in four innings last week against Western Kentucky.

“He has the most rest,” McCormack said. “…I think he threw 65 pitches. We hope that he can get 85-ish [Wednesday]. The one thing about pitching here is it’s really hot here. I think the bullpen has got to be ready to go because it’s tough to deal with.”

Frank grabs honor

In what began as season full of preseason accolades, Florida Atlantic shortstop Tyler Frank is starting to add postseason awards.

On Tuesday, he was announced as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year. It marks the second time an FAU player has won the honor in three years. In 2016, shortstop C.J. Chatham captured the award. “Well deserved,” McCormack said. “He’s played tremendous at shortstop all year. All the hard work he put in during the fall paid off.”

This season, Frank’s fielding percentage is .942. He is also batting .311 with 11 home runs.

A junior, Frank is considered one of the nation’s top players. He was a midseason All-American pick by several media outlets and on the preseason Golden Spikes Award list. He is rated as the No. 75 player by MLB.com and is expected to be selected in next month’s draft.

Frank was also selected to the conference’s firstteam. He was joined by teammates pitcher Zach Schneider, Miednik and outfielder David Miranda.

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF FILE PHOTO Shortstop Tyler Frank is rated as the No. 75 prospect by MLB.com and is likely to be drafted next month.