Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
20-4, 4-1
Middle Tennessee
12-8, 4-1
FAU Baseball Falls 5-3 in Extras Versus Middle Tennessee
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team nearly completed its second-straight comeback win against Middle Tennessee, but fell 5-3 in 11 innings on Saturday.
The Owls (20-4, 4-1 C-USA) became the final team to lose a Conference USA game and will go for the series victory against the Blue Raiders (12-8, 4-1 C-USA) on Sunday at noon at the FAU Baseball Stadium.
MT scored two runs in the top of the third to take an early lead before junior Brendon Sanger cut the advantage in half with a solo home run to right.
After the Blue Raiders retook a two-run lead in the top of the fourth, Roman Collins singled and Esteban Puerta walked, setting up CJ Chatham for an RBI single to make it 3-2 MT.
Puerta reached on a two-out error in the sixth and moved to third on a double by Christian Dicks. Chatham stepped to the plate and again drove in a run to knot the game at three apiece.
The Owls loaded the bases in each the seventh and eighth innings, but left all six runners stranded.
Junior Seth McGarry entered to pitch in the eighth and dealt a career-high seven strikeouts while holding Middle Tennessee scoreless into extras.
A leadoff double by Austin Bryant in the top of the 11th setup the deciding inning for the Blue Raiders off of Bo Logan. An intentional walk, fielder's choice and a single by Ronnie Jabavy allowed two runs to cross the plate to go up 5-3.
"Credit to them," FAU Head Coach John McCormack said. "They got out of some tight jams and made decent pitches and we couldn't do what we needed to do."
Nathan Foriest entered to close out the game in the bottom of the frame, allowing just one runner as Ricky Santiago reached on an error.
The FAU pitching staff struck out 15 batters and allowed just two walks on the day as Logan was tagged with his first loss of the year.
Chatham went 3-for-5 with two RBI while Sanger was 2-for-5 with his solo home run.
Sam Alton earned the win for MT with 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and a pair of walks.
Game three is set for a noon first pitch at the FAU Baseball Stadium on Sunday. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Alton,Sam (3-0)
L: Logan, Bo (2-1)
S: Foriest,Nathan (4)
Batting:
2B: Jebavy, Ronnie 1 ; Bryant,Austin 1
RBI: Delgado,Dustin 1 ; Jebavy, Ronnie 2 ; Allen,Jared 1
SH: Delgado,Dustin 2 ; Dupree,Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jarreau,Brad 1 ; Jebavy, Ronnie 1 ; Bryant,Austin 2 ; King,Kaleb 1
SB: Jarreau,Brad 1 ; Bryant,Austin 1
Batting:
2B: Kerr, Stephen 1 ; Dicks, Christian 1
HR: Sanger, Brendon 1
RBI: Sanger, Brendon 1 ; Chatham, CJ 2
SH: Lashley, Brett 1 ; Dicks, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sanger, Brendon 1 ; Collins, Roman 1 ; Puerta, Esteban 1
