Baseball Ekes Out Conference Opener, 7-6 over Middle Tennessee

Friday, March 17

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

12-5-1, 0

Middle Tennessee

8-9, 0

Middle Tennessee

Florida Atlantic

Baseball Ekes Out Conference Opener, 7-6 over Middle Tennessee

3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 17, 2017

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team came back from a 4-0 deficit, and even after Middle Tennessee tied it late, scored two in their last at-bat to take Friday night's Conference USA opener at FAU Baseball Stadium, 7-6.

The Turning Point

Two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings by the Owls (12-5-1, 1-0 C-USA) erased the early four-run Blue Raider (8-9, 0-1 C-USA) lead, with the latter two coming on an Eric Rivera home run. Then, when MT pushed across one in the eighth, FAU quickly rebounded for two runs of their own the very next half-inning.

The Finish

In the home eighth, two runners reached with one out, when Tyler Frank was hit by a pitch and Austin Langham singled for his third hit of the night. David Miranda knocked in the go-ahead run with a single of his own, and on a 10-pitch at-bat (the last five were foul balls on a 3-2 count), Stephen Kerr hit a grounder to third. Langham, off on the pitch, slid under the tag attempt at home for a huge insurance run. Though MT scored in the ninth to cut it to one, closer Cameron Ragsdale induced a liner into the glove of Kerr with the bases loaded to save the victory.

Notables

Langham was 3-for-4 and also reached on a walk
Kerr had three RBI, all without benefit of a hit (bases-loaded walk, sacrifice fly and the eighth-inning fielder's choice), in his return after missing eight games due to injury
Frank had three runs out of the leadoff slot, while Langham, right behind him, scored twice
Eric Keating (1-0) picked up the win, with a big flyout to strand the bases loaded in the Blue Raider eighth
Also successful in relief was Mark Nowatnick, with two innings of 1-hit, 3-strikeout baseball in the sixth and seventh
The FAU offense continued to take advantage of opportunities. Six batters drew walks and four were hit by a pitch

Quotable

"Credit to them," said Head Coach John McCormack of Middle Tennessee. "We did enough to win. I didn't think it was a stellar night. We did take our walks … and Miranda had that big at-bat and we were able to get one more out of it too, which we needed. But the offense did enough."

What's Next

Game two against the Blue Raiders is a 4 p.m. start on Saturday. Pregame coverage will include the 2017 Baseball Ring of Honor ceremony, scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., on www.FAUSports.TV.