No. 17 Owls Capture C-USA Championship With Sweep

Saturday, May 21

Boca Raton, Fla.

11:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

37-15, 21-8

WKU

24-30, 10-20

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
WKU	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	2
Florida Atlantic	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	4	9	0

5/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 21, 2016

Final Stats

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The No. 17 Florida Atlantic University baseball team clinched the Conference USA Championship and No. 1 seed in the C-USA Tournament with a 21-8 league mark after topping WKU 4-1 on Saturday. Four C-USA entered the weekend with a chance at the title, but FAU swept WKU to capture the crown.

"I can't be more excited and proud of the team," FAU Head Coach John McCormack said. "They just kept believing all year in each other and the program. It is well documented what we have gone through as a group and today is a culmination of us getting through some of our challenges. It is a great day."

Senior Brett Lashley, playing in his final game at the FAU Baseball Stadium, went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk while CJ Chatham and Austin Langham each tallied two hits.

Sophomore Marc Stewart improved to 6-0 on the season with three strikeouts and just four hits allowed in his six innings of work. After two shutout innings by Colyn O'Connell, closer Cameron Ragsdale recorded his C-USA leading 14th save with a strikeout in the ninth.

The contest started as game two of a doubleheader on Friday evening and was suspended to Saturday due to weather in the sixth inning.

Senior Billy Endris singled, stole second and came in to score on a WKU error to give FAU a 1-0 advantage in the first.

Langham singled in the second and moved to scoring position on a Gunnar Lambert walk. Lashley then pushed a ball through the right side to plate Langham, doubling the lead.

WKU cut the lead back to one with a lone run in the top of the fourth inning as the clouds rolled in.

Tyler Frank drew a walk and Lashley singled to put two on in the sixth before Stephen Kerr picked up an RBI on a groundout. Chatham then roped a single to center to plate Kerr, putting FAU up by the final 4-1 before the contest was suspended.

O'Connell dealt a perfect seventh on Saturday and walked just one in the eighth.

Lambert led off the bottom of the eighth with a double and worked his way to third on a sacrifice by Lashley, but was left stranded.

Ragsdale allowed two hits in the top of the ninth before coaxing a double play to end the contest.

FAU ends the regular season with a record of 37-15 and 21-8 in Conference USA with eight wins over ranked opponents including three over Top-5 squads.

The Owls will open the C-USA Tournament on Wednesday, May 25 as the No. 1 seed in Hattiesburg, Miss. Free radio broadcasts will be available on FAUSports.com.