Florida Atlantic Finishes Season at SBC Tournament

Friday, May 22

Troy, Ala.

10:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

30-26

Middle Tennessee

40-16

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Florida Atlantic	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	7	12	2
Middle Tennessee	4	0	1	2	1	0	2	2	X	12	14	2

5/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 22, 2009

Final Stats | Action Photos

TROY, AL - Florida Atlantic University's season ended with a 12-7 loss to Co-Sun Belt Conference Champions Middle Tennessee State in quarterfinal action at the league's postseason tournament in Troy. An FAU error led to a four-run MTSU first inning - an early deficit which proved too much for the Owls to overcome.

Florida Atlantic (30-26) posted the program's 11th-straight winning season. The Owls had knocked its rival, FIU, out of the tournament on Thursday. The second loss in three days to MTSU eliminates FAU from the eight-team field.

Middle Tennessee State (40-16) moves on to face the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the semifinals. The Blue Raiders reached the 40-win plateau for the fourth time in school history.

MTSU scored three unearned runs off FAU senior starter Adam Morrison (3-3) in the first inning. After a walk and Bryce Brentz' single, third baseman Sean Bukovich air-mailed a throw to second on what was a tailor-made, inning-ending double play grounder. A run would score on the error and Ben Darlington and Drew Robertson followed with RBI-doubles to put MTSU in front 4-0.

Bukovich helped the Owls get back into it in the third, hitting one of three-consecutive singles to lead off the inning against MTSU right-hander Chad Edwards (8-1). With the bases loaded, David Wilson hit an RBI groundout and Mike Albaladejo doubled into the right field corner to pull FAU to within one, 4-3.

Albaladejo was not retired in five at-bats, walking twice and finishing the day 3-for-3 with three RBI.

With MTSU leading 5-3, Nathan Hines led off the MTSU fourth with a double down the leftfield line, chasing Morrison and MTSU would use two hits off Chris Schmitt to tack on two more runs and assume a 7-3 lead.

FAU threatened in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate after Tom Hatcher's two-out RBI-single loaded the bases against Jud Stoltz. Stoltz worked out of the jam by inducing a groundball-out. Then, Zach Dean hit a pinch-hit two-run homer off Glen Troyanowski in the bottom of the inning to seal FAU's fate.

GAME NOTES: A light mist began to fall in the third inning and a heavy rain arrived in the fourth prompting a 12 minute rain delay and returned again in the eighth for a second delay of 12 minutes... Except for the mound, Troy's recently renovated Riddle-Pace Field is completely surfaced with astro-play field turf... Prior to the two delays Friday, there had only been one other rain delay in the two-year history of the new stadium... MTSU put the leadoff batter on base in four straight middle innings... MTSU had won all four previous meetings with FAU this season; including a 12-2 victory in the tournament's opening round Wednesday... Senior 1B Travis Ozga hit a ninth-inning solo homer over the extended wall in right field... Ozga homered in each of FAU's three tournament games in Troy... FAU played the tournament without senior 2B William Block (eligibility).