Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
22-5, 8-2
Charlotte
14-17, 4-6
No. 12 Owls Fall to Charlotte 12-7
4/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. â€" The No. 12 Florida Atlantic University baseball team rallied for six runs over the final two innings Friday night, but came up short as Charlotte pulled ahead for a 12-7 Conference USA victory.
"You've got to give credit to [Charlotte]," FAU Head Coach John McCormack said. "They swung the bats really well. We started another Friday night down two runs before we could even blink. Credit to them â€" they did what they were supposed to do."
The Owls (22-5, 8-2 C-USA) tallied 15 hits, led by Billy Endris who went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Christian Dicks drive in a pair of runs as he, CJ Chatham, Esteban Puerta and Austin Langham each tallied multiple hits.
Starter Brandon Rhodes was tagged with six earned runs on eight hits as Charlotte (14-17, 4-6 C-USA) posted two runs in the first and picked up three on a home run by Brett Netzer in the second inning.
FAU got on the board in the fourth as Langham and Tyler Frank each hit two-out singles before Brett Lashley picked up an RBI to plate Langham.
Charlotte struck back with a solo home run by Logan Sherer in the top of the fifth before Rhodes was lifted. The 49ers extended the lead to 7-1 in the seventh on a single and a two-out triple.
Endris led off the eighth with his second home run of the season, sparking a four-run rally for the Owls. Chatham, Dicks, Puerta and Labsan each hit consecutive singles to cut the lead to 7-5.
Charlotte cut the momentum short with five more runs on seven hits in the top of the ninth, sending ten batters to the plate against Devon Carr and Jorge Marrero to take a 12-5 lead.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Endris singled and Chatham walked before each came in to score on a double by Dicks before a groundout ended the contest.
FAU and Charlotte will square off in game two Saturday at 4 p.m. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Geoghegan (2-4)
L: Rhodes, Brandon (4-3)
S: Traugh (1)
Batting:
3B: Ober 1
HR: Netzer 1 ; Sherer 1
RBI: Netzer 3 ; Sherer 2 ; Nichting 1 ; Ober 3 ; Fritz 1
SF: Ober 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hampton 3 ; Netzer 3 ; Sherer 1 ; Nichting 2 ; Ober 1 ; Jarrett 1 ; Jones 1
SB: Gallello 1
CS: Gallello 1
HBP: Gallello 1
Batting:
2B: Dicks, Christian 1
HR: Endris, Billy 1
RBI: Endris, Billy 1 ; Dicks, Christian 2 ; Puerta, Esteban 1 ; Labsan, Sean 1 ; Lashley, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Endris, Billy 2 ; Chatham, CJ 2 ; Dicks, Christian 1 ; Puerta, Esteban 1 ; Langham, Austin 1
