Baseball Takes Both Ends of Saturday Road Doubleheader

Saturday, March 31

Charleston, W.Va.

1:15 PM

Florida Atlantic

18-8, 0

Marshall

11-10, 0

Florida Atlantic

Marshall

3/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

March 31, 2018

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team swept Saturday's Conference USA doubleheader against Marshall, by scores of 3-2 and 8-6 at Appalachian Power Park. With the wins, the Owls improved to 19-8 and 5-3 in C-USA play.

Quotable

"This was a really good day for us," said Head Coach John McCormack. "I am proud of the way the guys played for 18 innings. Doubleheaders are not easy, and the guys were up to the challenge."

The Turning Point - Game One

The Owls fell behind 2-0, on a solo home run in the second, and an unearned run against starter Jake Miednik in the fourth. In the top of the sixth, a two-out RBI single by Joe Montes halved the deficit, and Miednik got two strikeouts in the home half, completing his afternoon with his 10th K of the day to strand a runner on first.

The Finish - Game One

In the eighth, with one out, Tyler Frank tripled to deep left-center to score Richie Nizza to tie it, and Montes singled down the leftfield line for the Owls' first lead of the day. Reliever Drew Peden closed it out with three innings of hitless, scoreless baseball, facing the minimum of nine batters to go to 4-0 on the year.

The Bats - Game One

Montes had three of the team's four hits, and two of the three RBI
Frank's triple, in his last at-bat, extended his hitting streak to 20 games
Frank, Nizza and Diamond Johnson scored the Owls' runs

The Arms - Game One

Miednik allowed five hits, one earned run, and walked zero batters versus his 10 strikeouts
The only batter to reach against Peden was a hit-by-pitch, and that runner was erased on a pitchout and caught stealing by Pedro Pages
Peden struck out two for an even dozen by Owls' pitching in the day's opener

The Turning Point - Game Two

A back-and-forth affair saw a 3-0 FAU lead, a 3-3 tie, Marshall up 4-3, FAU regain the advantage at 5-4, and another tie at 5-5. The last was in the bottom of the sixth on what to that point was the combined sixth home run of the game by both sides.

The Finish - Game Two

With two outs and no one on in the top of the seventh, Andru Summerall blistered a home run to right, his second of the game, to snap the tie and push the Owls ahead 6-5. In the ninth, also with two outs, Nizza walked and Frank went deep to left for a two-run shot to make it 8-5. Marshall scored once in the bottom of the ninth, and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Zach Schneider fielded a comebacker to the mound and threw to first for the save and the doubleheader sweep.

The Bats - Game Two

For Summerall, it was the first two-homer game of his career
His first dinger followed one by Cody Wilson for the second time the Owls have gone back-to-back in 2018
In the sixth, after Marshall had taken the lead the previous half-inning, Nizza notched the first home run of his FAU career, and was 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored
Also with a two-hit output was David Miranda, whose RBI single all the way back in the first started the game's scoring
Frank's home run, again in his last at-bat, pushed his hit streak out to 21 games

The Arms - Game Two

Vince Coletti started and gave up four runs on three hits in five innings, striking out six
Earning his first FAU win with three great innings was Matt Harris. He allowed three hits and just one run, with four K's
Schneider's save was his eighth of the year

What's Next

Sunday's game three is scheduled as of now for a 1 p.m. start from Applachian Power Park. The starting pitching matchup will be Mike Ruff for FAU against Marshall's Chris Fryer. For tickets to the Owls' next home game, on April 6, and beyond, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit www.fausports.com/tickets/baseball-tickets.html.