Baseball Opens 2016 with an 11-5 Win

Friday, February 19

Starkville, Miss.

1:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

1-0

South Dakota State

0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Florida Atlantic	0	1	0	0	3	1	3	2	1	11	15	0
South Dakota State	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	2	5	8	1

2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 19, 2016

Final Stats

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Florida Atlantic University's baseball team down South Dakota State 11-5 in the first game of the Mississippi Tournament.

Starting pitcher David McKay pitched a gem of a game with five innings of work and he relied on a strong Owls defensive performance, especially early in the game, to build a 4-1 lead before giving way in the middle of the sixth. McKay recorded six strikeouts, walked one and allowed one earned run on three hits for the win.

The Owls scored their first run following a Sean Labsan walk. He moved to third when SDS botched a pick-off play. With Labsan on third and Brett Lashley on first via a walk, freshman utility man Tyler Frank hit his first collegiate single up the middle to drive in FAU's first run of 2016.

FAU would tack on three more in the top of the fifth, all with two outs. Stephen Kerr got the scoring going with a single. Billy Endris, who ran a ball down at the wall earlier in the game to save a run, followed with a single and shortstop CJ Chatham singled to left to score Kerr. Christian Dicks then singled to right to put FAU up 4-0. Esteban Puerta, who had a monster of a day going 5-of-6, including two doubles, a homer and five RBI, drove in the final run of the frame.

A homer scored SDS's first run. The two teams each scored a run in the sixth before FAU put the game away in the seventh with three runs and added two in the eighth and one in the ninth. SDS scored two meaningless runs in the final half inning of the game.

Offensively, all but one starting Owl recorded a hit with four recording multiple hits. Puerta led the way while Labson was 3-for-5 with two doubles, and both Endris and Chatham had two hits each.

On the mound, McKay picked up the win after five innings. Colyn O'Connell pitched two innings, gave up four hits and saw SDS score two unearned runs. Jorge Marrero pitched the final two innings, gave up two earned runs on one hit and two walks. He also retired two via a strikeout.

FAU remained at the field to play the second game of the day versus host Mississippi State. The Owls will then play Mississippi State at 5:30 p.m. est on Saturday, Feb. 20 and SDS 11:30 a.m. est. on Sunday, Feb. 21.

FAU will open its home season 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26 versus LIU Brooklyn. For tickets call 1-866-FAU-Owls. To follow the game, via game tracker, log onto fausports.com.