Baseball Walks Off Opener vs. No. 14 USM

Friday, March 23

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

17-5, 0

No. 14 Southern Miss

15-5, 0

Southern Miss

Florida Atlantic

3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 23, 2018

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team won for the fifth time this season in their last at-bat, taking the series opener against No. 14 Southern Miss, 6-5, on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

Quotable

"That's a really good team," said Head Coach John McCormack of Southern Miss. "I thought our guys pitched their butts off tonight to keep them to five runs. You can't say enough about Cody Wilson, he accepts that I moved him down in the lineup, didn't say a word and comes and plays hard. I thought we kept our composure there; they did the right think walking the two guys. It's a tough thing for them, but I'm happy we won."

The Turning Point

Tyler Frank led off the FAU (17-5, 3-1 Conference USA) first with a solo home run, but Southern Miss (15-5, 2-1 C-USA) scored the next four runs, on three homers of their own. It became a 4-2 game with an Andru Summerall sacrifice fly in the sixth, and the following inning, Frank's three-run shot gave the Owls a one-run lead. That became short-lived when Luke Reynolds tied it up the following half-inning with his second homer of the night.

The Finish

In the visiting ninth, the Golden Eagles got a leadoff single and a walk, with both runners moving up on a groundout. But with two outs, Owls' reliever Zach Schneider ended the threat with a groundout. Wilson then led off the bottom of the ninth with a standup triple to right-center. USM elected to intentionally walk Frank and Lambert, bringing Pedro Pages to the plate. The first pitch from J.C. Keys bounced in and got away from catcher Cole Donaldson, but the runners did not attempt to advance. However, the second went through Donaldson's legs to the backstop, allowing Wilson to come across with no throw for the game-winner.

The Bats

Wilson, Frank and Jared DeSantolo each had two hits, for six of the Owls' seven
Frank's two-homer game was the second of his career, and second in 10 days, and he matched his career high with four RBI
His 17-game hitting streak is FAU's longest since 2015, when C.J. Chatham and Brendon Sanger each hit safely in 19 straight

The Arms

Jake Miednik struck out a batter in each of his six innings of work
Matt Harris came on in relief and struck out three, only allowing a hit and a run
Schneider improved to 2-0 with the win

What's Next

The Owls and Golden Eagles, game two, begins at 4 p.m. Saturday at FAU Baseball Stadium. The pitching matchup will be Mark Nowatnick for the home team against the visitors' Stevie Powers.