Baseball Sees Series Knotted Up By Golden Eagles

Saturday, March 24

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

17-6, 0

No. 14 Southern Miss

16-5, 0

Southern Miss

Florida Atlantic

3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 24, 2018

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team saw a potential game-tying three-run home run caught at the wall, ending hopes for a second straight come-from-behind victory as the Owls fell to No. 14 Southern Miss Saturday night by a final score of 5-2.

Quotable

"I thought our guys kept fighting, we had a shot there," said Head Coach John McCormack. "The wind was not in our direction, I didn't think that the way it was blowing when (Pedro Pages) hit it, especially with their leftfielder kept going to his left. If he had pulled it, no doubt, but I thought it was a good game. We just have to be a little bit better, especially early. We gotta be ready to go at noon (Sunday), we gotta get a zero and then be able to put up a run in the bottom of the first and make them chase us."

The Turning Point

Southern Miss (16-5, 3-1 Conference USA) scored twice in each of the second and third innings, which would hold up until the end. The big blow was a two-run homer by Matt Wallner in the latter frame. FAU (17-6, 3-2 C-USA) starter Mark Nowatnick settled down after that hit, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Owls chipped away with runs in the third (back-to-back two-out singles by Tyler Frank and Joe Montes) and fifth (an RBI single by David Miranda).

The Finish

USM added another run on a solo shot by Hunter Slater leading off the eighth for a three-run advantage. In each of their last two innings, the Owls put multiple runners on, but were kept off the board. With runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth, USM closer Wallner got a strikeout to end the first threat. Then in the ninth, Diamond Johnson and Montes singled, again putting men on first and third, this time with just one out. After another strikeout by Wallner, Pages lifted a deep flyball to left, with Mason Irby catching it on the track to end the game.

The Bats

Johnson and Montes' hits in the ninth were the second and third hits for them, respectively
Miranda also had two hits
Frank's third-inning single pushed his hit streak out to 18, and he scored his team-high 22nd run of the year

The Arms

Nowatnick would pitch six innings in his first start of the year, scattering two hits and with two of the four runs against him unearned
Jordan Poore had a scoreless seventh, Drew Peden retired three to end the eighth, plus two more in the ninth (the second on a pickoff on first by Pages), and Weston Clemente struck out Wallner to end that frame

What's Next

The rubber matchup pits Vince Coletti against Walker Powell, with first pitch scheduled for noon Sunday.