USF Holds Off FAU in Gainesville Regional Opener

Friday, May 29

Gainesville, Fla.

1:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

40-18

USF

34-24-1

USF

Florida Atlantic

5/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 29, 2015

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A back-and-forth battle raged in the opener of the Gainesville Regional before USF pulled away with a 5-3 win over the Florida Atlantic University baseball team Friday afternoon.

""I thought it was a very well-played game on both sides," FAU Head Coach John McCormack said. "I think USF is very proud to be back in the tournament and to come out and play well like they did today. We didn't look like the moment was too big for us. I thought the guys were really excited to play but they also stayed loose and stayed focused. Really good day for us today."

The Owls (40-18) fell behind early as a lead-off triple by USF's Kyle Teaf and a single gave the Bulls (34-24-1) a 1-0 lead.

FAU responded in the bottom of the frame when Stephen Kerr led off with a bunt single and moved to third on a line-drive single by Billy Endris. A sacrifice fly by Brendon Sanger and a double by Roman Collins drove in a pair of runs to give the Owls their first lead of the day.

A hit batter and a walk to open the second led to trouble for FAU starter Drew Jackson when Teaf laced a two-RBI single to center to put the Bulls back on top 3-2. Jackson was able to force a popup and a groundout with the bases loaded to keep the Owls within one.

Kerr and Endris each singled with two outs in the second before Sanger walked to load the bags for the Owls, but FAU was unable to bring any runs across.

Christian Dicks singled in the third and came in to score on a throwing error by USF to tie the game at three apiece before USF's Teaf again tripled and scored in the fourth.

With two outs in the seventh, a walk and back-to-back singles allowed the Bulls to tack on an insurance run to go up 5-3.

Jackson (6-4) was tagged with the loss with seven hits, four runs and three strikeouts in five innings while Jimmy Herget (10-3) picked up the win with nine hits and three walks allowed in seven innings of work.

FAU brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play ended the threat and sent the Owls into the loser's bracket of the Regional. FAU will face either Florida A&M or the University of Florida Saturday at 1 p.m. Free audio is available on FAUSports.com and ESPN3 will have video coverage.