Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
South Alabama
South Alabama Wins Big Over Florida Atlantic
4/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 4, 2008
Mobile, AL - Florida Atlantic allowed a season-high 18 hits en route to suffering its most lopsided loss of the season, a 14-3 setback to South Alabama Friday night in Mobile.
Florida Atlantic (16-11; 6-5 SBC) has lost five straight and falls to 6-5 in league play after having began its conference season 6-1. FAU's five-game losing streak is its first since 1998.
Each of the first five batters in the lineup for South Alabama (18-11; 6-4 SBC) had two hits or more. The Jaguars have won five in a row.
Before the game got out of reach for FAU, Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg hit his fourth home run of the season, lining a 3-2 pitch over the leftfield wall to lead off the Owls' half of the third inning.
Ryne Jernigan had hit a solo home run for the Jaguars in the bottom of the second, which initiated the scoring off FAU starter Mickey Storey (2-3). USA strung together four consecutive two-out hits off Storey in the bottom of the third to take a 5-1 lead, capped by a Ryan Bohanan two-run homer to right field.
Storey worked a quick fifth inning but was touched up for four more runs in the sixth, again capped by a Bohanan homer, his second of the game and fourth of the season.
Storey allowed ten hits and nine runs, leaving the game with FAU trailing 9-2 with one out in the bottom of the fifth when Chris Schmitt was summoned from the bullpen following Bohanan's second home run.
Bohanan went 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI. USA starter Eric Gonzalez (5-2) worked seven innings of two-hit baseball to win for the fifth time in seven starts.
Four consecutive singles off Schmitt in the sixth inning produced three more runs extending the USA lead to 10 at 12-2, effectively turning it into a rout and FAU's worst loss of the season.
GAME NOTES: South Alabama head coach Steve Kittrell did not coach the Jaguars Friday night, serving out a one-game suspension for being ejected during an 8-5 USA loss to Western Kentucky Saturday March 16 in Mobile... After starting 23 games as the DH and three times in leftfield, Tom Hatcher made his first start at first base... Travis Ozga made his first start at third base after playing and starting 23 times as the first baseman...FAU has been outscored 53-23 during its current five-game losing streak.
