Four Pitchers Combine to Limit Monmouth to Three Hits in 6-1 Win

Saturday, February 18

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

2-0

Monmouth

0-2

Monmouth

Florida Atlantic

Four Pitchers Combine to Limit Monmouth to Three Hits in 6-1 Win

2/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 18, 2017

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Jake Miednik and three relievers held Monmouth to just three hits as the Florida Atlantic University baseball team moved to 2-0 by defeating the Hawks 6-1 on Saturday evening at FAU Baseball Stadium.

The Turning Point

Miednik retired the first 13 batters he faced in order and his offense gave him a cushion with a four-run bottom of the second inning. Freshman Gary Mattis notched his first career RBI on a fielder's choice, and fellow first-year Eric Rivera did the same the very next at-bat with a seeing-eye single through the left side. Tyler Frank made it 3-0 with a similar single, and Jared Shouppe rounded out the inning with a sacrifice fly.

The Finish

Monmouth's biggest threat came in Miednik's last inning, the seventh. He had only allowed one hit to that point, but the first three batters he faced in the frame reached, on a walk and back-to-back singles. A run came in on catcher's interference, ending the junior lefthander's night. But the relief corps did what they were brought in to do: submariner Drew Peden struck out the next hitter, the only batter he faced, on three pitches, and Eric Keating induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Notables

Miednik gave up only the one run, unearned, and struck out eight in a sterling debut
Keating would end up going one and two-thirds innings, only allowing a walk, and Kyle Marman closed it out with a perfect eighth
All told, the Owls' pitchers walked only three and struck out 12 Hawks
Esteban Puerta drove in a run in the fourth inning with a single, giving him six RBI in two days
Frank, for the second consecutive game, had two RBI out of the leadoff spot. He wrapped the Owls' scoring with another run-scoring single, in the eighth
The sacrifice fly off the bat of Shouppe was the only time he was retired on Saturday. He had a single, was hit by a pitch and drew two walks, and in two games, has reached base eight out of a possible 11 times
Mattis and Rivera, in addition to each knocking in their first run, both got their first collegiate hits and both scored twice

Quotable

"As I said early in the game, it's all about fastball command, and Jake had it," said Head Coach John McCormack of Miednik. "Jake really pitched and battled, Peden was fantastic and Keating was really good. And Kyle Marman did what he was supposed to do, threw strikes and finished it. I was really happy, those guys did a great job."

What's Next

The Owls and Hawks finish up their three-game set on Sunday, a noon start at FAU Baseball Stadium. Nick Swan will be the game three starter for the Owls.