No. 12 FAU Falls 6-0 to No. 17 Rice

Friday, May 8

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

36-12, 17-8

Rice

31-16, 18-7

Rice

Florida Atlantic

5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 8, 2015

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team lacked its normal offensive prowess on Friday as FAU dropped the series opener 6-0 to Conference USA rival Rice.

FAU (36-12, 17-8 C-USA) mustered five hits but struck out a season-high 12 times in the loss.

"Their pitching was good and we knew that coming in," FAU Head Coach John McCormack said. "I thought our guys had decent at-bats but they pitched a little bit better than us and they got some timely hits."

After both teams went scoreless in the first three innings, Rice (31-16, 18-7 C-USA) posted two runs in the fourth on a two-out infield single as FAU pitcher Kyle Miller nearly made a diving catch to end the inning.

FAU loaded the bases in the fifth as Roman Collins singled, CJ Chatham walked and Ryan Miller was hit by a pitch, but a fly out stymied the FAU attack.

FAU right fielder Brendon Sanger made a fantastic play to throw out a runner at home in the sixth before Rice tacked on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 3-0.

Sanger made another defensive highlight in the seventh, turning a 9-4-6 double play to end the inning after Rice put the first two batters on base.

A two-run homer by Conner Teykl in the top of the eighth gave Rice a pair of insurance runs, increasing the lead to 5-0 before Rice scored a lone run in the top of the ninth.

Chatham and Ricky Santiago singled in the eighth and ninth, respectively, but FAU was unable to produce any runs.

Billy Endris had two of FAU's five hits while Brendon Sanger saw a 20-game reached-base streak come to an end.

Kyle Miller was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on ten hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Jordan Stephens earned the win, tossing 6.2 shutout innings with eight strikeouts and a walk.

FAU and Rice square off in game two Saturday at 1 p.m. at the FAU Baseball Stadium. The contest will be televised national on the American Sports Network.