Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
15-3, 0
Middle Tennessee
11-9, 0
No. 15 Owls Dominate MT 12-1 to Win Series
3/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. â€" Five runs over the first two innings put the Florida Atlantic University baseball team on a path to win its Conference USA opening series with a 12-1 win at Middle Tennessee on Sunday.
The Owls (15-3, 2-1 C-USA) crafted 14 hits in the game for their tenth game double-digit hit game of the young season. Brett Lashley led the way with three hits, three RBI and three runs scored while CJ Chatham drove in a pair and Jose Bonilla Traverso scored twice.
Sean Labsan earned the win, dealing five inning of shutout work with three strikeouts while going 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases in the top of the first before Esteban Puerta drove in Stephen Kerr and Lashley scored on an error to give the Owls an early advantage.
With two outs in the second, Bonilla Traverso beat out a bunt single to spark a three-run inning for FAU with the help of singles by Lashley and CJ Chatham, aided by three Blue Raider errors, to make it 5-0 Owls.
Puerta, Labsan and Austin Langham each singled with one out in the seventh before another error allowed two runs to score. Kerr reached on an error to load the bases for Lashley, who drove in Langham and Bonilla Traverso to run the score up to 9-0.
The Blue Raiders (11-9, 1-2 C-USA) got on the board with a lone run in the bottom of the eighth on FAU's third error of the afternoon.
Langham and Kerr were hit by pitches and Tyler Frank singled to load the bases once more in the ninth. Lashley then hustled out a single to first, Chatham hit into a fielder's choice and Christian Dicks singled to drive in three more runs in the frame, extending the lead to 12-1.
Cameron Ragsdale closed out the game with a shutout inning in the ninth to give FAU the series win 2-1, marking FAU's ninth consecutive series victory.
The Owls will travel to Gainesville on Tuesday, March 22 to take on the No. 1 Florida Gators. Free audio is available on FAUSports.com. The Owls will return home to host UAB in a three-game series starting Thursday, March 24. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Labsan, Sean (2-0)
L: Wyrick (2-2)
Batting:
RBI: Lashley, Brett 3 ; Chatham, CJ 2 ; Dicks, Christian 1 ; Puerta, Esteban 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kerr, Stephen 2 ; Lashley, Brett 3 ; Puerta, Esteban 1 ; Labsan, Sean 1 ; Langham, Austin 2 ; Frank, Tyler 1 ; Traverso, Jose 2
SB: Kerr, Stephen 1 ; Lashley, Brett 1 ; Traverso, Jose 1
HBP: Kerr, Stephen 1 ; Langham, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Delgado 1
HBP: Dennis 1
