No. 22 Baseball Edged Out by FGCU, 4-2

Tuesday, April 24

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

29-10-1

Florida Gulf Coast

28-11

FGCU

Florida Atlantic

4/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 25, 2018

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The No. 22 Florida Atlantic University baseball team had the tying run on base or at the plate in each of the last two innings, but couldn't get that one key hit Wednesday night in falling to FGCU at FAU Baseball Stadium, 4-2.

Quotable

"We didn't have much energy, and didn't have good at-bats at the beginning," said Head Coach John McCormack. "We tried to rally (and) had some opportunities. Credit them, they made some big pitches when they had to. It was just little mistakes. (FGCU was) locked in and ready to go."

The Turning Point

FGCU (28-11) scored in the second and fourth innings, and a two-out rally by FAU (29-10-1) was snuffed out in the bottom half with just one run scoring as the bases were left loaded. In fact, at that point, two double plays by the Eagles had already erased Owl baserunners, and another would be thrown out rounding third base too far to end the fifth.

The Finish

Two more FGCU runs, in the fifth and eighth, added up to a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, singles by Tyler Frank and Joe Montes to lead off the frame seemed to swing momentum back to FAU, and the bases would be loaded when Pedro Pages was walked with one out. A fielder's choice RBI by Eric Rivera scored one run, but a flyout ended the threat. Then, in the ninth, Jordan Poore singled with two outs, but a called third strike ended the proceedings with the tying run at the plate.

The Bats

The Owls had eight hits, but they were scattered. Montes had three of them in four at-bats
In addition to Rivera's RBI, Gunnar Lambert had one on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch; Frank and David Miranda scored the two Owls' runs
Frank came in after his eighth-inning single, making for 35 straight games reaching base
Pages reached three times, on two walks and a HBP
Cody Wilson now has a 13-game hitting streak

The Arms

Despite giving up just two runs on four hits, Mike Ruff (1-2) was saddled with the loss. He had four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings
Blake Sanderson added three more strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings, and Marc Stewart two in 2 1/3
Drew Peden got two big outs in the eighth inning, and went to leftfield when Jordan Poore began the ninth. Poore struck out two lefthanded batters, turning the ball back over to Peden, who got an unusual out for a combined perfect ninth: on what was seemingly a double, it was ruled the FGCU runner didn't touch first, so ultimately, it was just a 9-5-1-3 putout
The five Owls' pitchers combined for 12 K's in the game, the staff's 17th double-digit strikeout game of the year and first since April 1

What's Next

FAU will have their three next games at FAU Baseball Stadium as well. Their next-to-last Conference USA home series of the year will be against UAB starting on Friday night. First pitch is 6:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit www.fausports.com/tickets/baseball-tickets.html.