Softball's 15-1 Record is Best Start in FAU History

Friday, February 27

Baton Rouge, La.

11:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

14-1

Stephen F. Austin

5-7

Florida Atlantic

Stephen F. Austin

2/27/2015 11:56:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Box Score Feb. 27, 2015

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. -

FAU vs. SFA Box Score

Northwestern State vs. FAU Box

Florida Atlantic University softball has seen the best start in school history after defeating Stephen F. Austin 8-0 and Northwestern State 3-2 on Friday. The team is now 15-1 on the season, and the previous best start was during the 1998 season when the team went 13-1.

"It was a good day for us and we are going to continue to focus on playing our game," said Joan Joyce, head coach. "The first game we played our normal game of hitting and running and Amanda pitched well. The second game was a bit tougher as Northwestern State is good both offensively and defensively. It was tight game but Kylee (Hanson) was able to pitch us out of it."

The Owls' offense was on fire with Christina Martinez going 4-for-4 with two RBI, Lindsey Shell and Emily Lochten going 2-for-3, and freshman Tatum Buckley hitting two solo homeruns in her first two at-bats. Sophomore pitcher Amanda Wilson had a strong performance in the circle with eight strikeouts, one walk, and giving up only four hits.

FAU had a productive first inning, with Shell leading off with a walk and advancing to second off a Christina Martinezsingle. Carnesha Thompson drew a walk and Shell scored off a wild pitch, which also advanced Christina Martinez to third. Christina Martinez would then steal home for the second run of the game. Later in the inning, Lochten would be driven home off a sacrifice fly from Melissa Martinez to bring the Owls up 3-0.

Buckley would hit her first homerun in her first at-bat to score FAU's fourth run in the top of the second inning. She homered her second at-bat to left field in the top of the fourth to bring the score to 5-0. The fifth inning saw two runs score as Shell led off with a bunt to the pitcher and Christina Martinez drove her in with a triple to right center. Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to score Christina Martinez and increase the Owl lead to 7-0. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Delaney Rickey singled to the shortstop and advanced to second off a Shell single. With her fourth hit of the game, Christina Martinez singled to right field to score Shell.

In the second game of the day, the Owls took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third but Northwestern State made it interesting by scoring two in the top of the sixth. Christina Martinez and Shell both went 1-for-3 while Thompson racked up an RBI. Kylee Hanson was in the circle for the game's entirety with eight strikeouts, four walks, and gave up seven hits.

Senior left fielder Shell began the bottom of the third with a hard hit double to center field. Christina Martinez followed with a bunt single, which would advance Shell to third. Thompson's bunt would score Shell but would catch Christina Martinez out at second. After walking earlier in the inning, Lochten would steal home with two outs to bring FAU up 3-0.

The Lady Demons would answer with two runs off of three hits in the top of the sixth. Hanson would secure the win with two strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

The Owls will face Stephen F. Austin again on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. ET and will then play No. 7 LSU at 6 p.m. ET that same day. You can survey all the action on Twitter by following @fauowlssoftball as well as view live stats on Gametracker via fausports.com.