Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
Bethune-Cookman
Salberg Strikes Out 13 in Complete Game Win
5/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2007
Chris Salberg struck out 13 batters and pitched his second complete game of the season as Florida Atlantic University defeated Bethune-Cookman University 4-2 Friday night at FAU Stadium. The Wildcats' 15-game win streak is snapped with the loss.
"It was an outstanding performance by Salberg in a contest where a call by the umpire changed the game," said FAU Head Coach Kevin Cooney. "He responded well after a balk call and our offense came through with big hits against a good Bethune-Cookman team."
The only two runs that the Rockford, IL native allowed came in the sixth inning. After Salberg recorded his fourth strikeout looking of the contest he issued a walk to Jose Ortiz. Ortiz would be erased on the base paths with a fielder's choice but the second walk of the inning put two runners on. With 10 stolen bases on the year, Neal Jones would swipe his 11th as he took third to move runners to the corner. Shortstop Chris Henault stepped to the plate and Salberg induced a ground ball up the middle that could have been the third out of the inning but a balk call by the umpire erased the play and gave B-CU its first run of the contest.
Henault then delivered a single down the right field line to tie the contest at two before FAU responded and retook the lead in the seventh inning. Daniel Bomback drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double down the right field line to plate Daniel Cook. The Owls added an insurance run in the eighth inning with two singles from Mike McKenna and Justin Martin before a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Stevens gave FAU its fourth run of the game.
FAU's first two runs of the game came in the first and third innings. Daniel Cook started the game with a walk and eventually scored on a Mike McKenna sacrifice fly to deep center field in the first and Robbie Widlansky collected his 12th homer o the year in the third to give the Owls the early 2-0 lead.
Salberg improves to 5-3 on the year after the allowed two runs on four hits and finished one shy of his career high with 13 strikeouts. His counterpart, Dustin Blackwell fell to 7-5 after he worked seven innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out five.
Justin Martin led the FAU offense with a 3-for-4 night, while Henault was the only B-CU player to finish with multiple hits. The win snapped a three-game skid by FAU and ended a 15-game win streak by the Wildcats that dated back to April 14.
The final game of the series will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. at FAU Stadium.
