Baseball Records Second Straight C-USA Sweep

Sunday, April 8

Boca Raton, Fla.

10:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

24-8, 0

Charlotte

15-16, 0

Charlotte

Florida Atlantic

4/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 8, 2018

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team took their second consecutive victory in their last at-bat, coming back from a 5-1 deficit to score five unanswered runs in sweeping Charlotte with a 6-5 Sunday victory at FAU Baseball Stadium.

Quotable

"The best thing that I can say is we won," said Head Coach John McCormack. "That was an ugly Sunday game. We hung in there, got some big hits. Really good baserunning, which sometimes goes unnoticed. Diamond (Johnson) came up with a big hit, Sandy (Blake Sanderson) did OK, (Marc) Stewart got three outs for us, and then I thought Mark Nowatnick pitched really well. Made it interesting there at the end, but we end up getting the win."

The Turning Point

Charlotte (15-16, 5-7 Conference USA) scored the first three runs of the game and led 5-1 midway through the fifth. An unearned FAU (24-8, 9-3 C-USA) run on an error in the home fifth cut it to three, and the Owls knotted things up in the sixth. Diamond Johnson's double scored Kevin Abraham, with Richie Nizza coming in on the same play via a 49ers error, and the tying run came across on a Joe Montes RBI single.

The Finish

Mark Nowatnick came on in relief for the seventh and needed just 12 pitches for a perfect frame. Though Charlotte had two hits in the eighth, a flyout ended that threat, setting up the game-winner. Tyler Frank led off the FAU eighth with a single, and a hit-by-pitch of David Miranda put two on with one out. A fielding error - the fifth of the game by the 49ers - loaded the bases, and Cody Wilson lofted a flyball to center deep enough to score Frank for the go-ahead run. In the ninth, with runners on the corners and two outs, Nowatnick finished off an eight-pitch at-bat by striking out Tyler Elwood to cement the sweep.

The Bats

Frank and Montes combined for four hits in the top two spots in the Owls' lineup
Frank now has 34 runs scored on the season
Though hitless, Miranda reached four times, with a walk and an FAU record-tying three HBP
FAU's bottom third - Abraham, Nizza and Johnson - scored four runs while reaching a combined eight times

The Arms

Mike Ruff drew the start, with only one earned run against him in three innings
Blake Sanderson bridged the gap with a scoreless fourth
Marc Stewart's sixth was benefited by a double play, the sixth of the series by the FAU defense
Nowatnick improved to 3-2 on the year with zero runs against him in three innings

What's Next

FAU travels west to take on Florida Gulf Coast in a non-conference midweek matchup Tuesday. First pitch is Fort Myers is set for 6:30 p.m. They will then return home for a C-USA set against UTSA, beginning Friday, April 13. To buy tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit www.fausports.com/tickets/baseball-tickets.html.