Baseball Advances after Winning C-USA Opener over FIU

Wednesday, May 23

Biloxi, Miss.

10:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

37-15-1

FIU

26-27

FIU

Florida Atlantic

5/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 23, 2018

Box Score

BILOXI, Miss. - After two delays sandwiched around a low-scoring affair to that point, both Florida Atlantic University baseball and FIU brought the bats to MGM Park. But it was a bases-clearing hit in the eighth inning by David Miranda that would propel FAU to a 7-4 victory in the opening game of the 2018 Conference USA Baseball Championship, presented by The First, on Wednesday.

Quotable

"I am very proud of our guys, they hung in there and kept fighting," said Head Coach John McCormack. "After nine hours (at the stadium), it was good to get the win."

The Turning Point

FIU (26-27) scored first, on an unearned run in the second, and after the Owls (37-15-1) went scoreless in the home half, the game was delayed for 1:39. After two and a half more scoreless innings, again, lightning came into the area, for a second delay of 1:35. Immediately, FAU scored twice to take their first lead, on an Eric Rivera liner to rightfield. But then each team scored a run in each of the next five half-innings, sending it to the bottom of the eighth with the game tied for the third time, 4-4.

The Finish

Andru Summerall drew a leadoff walk off of FIU's sixth pitcher, Greyson Fletcher, followed by a chopper up and over third base by Cody Wilson. A walk to Tyler Frank loaded the bases, as he won a nine-pitch battle, bringing Miranda to the plate. On a 3-1 pitch, he snuck a ball fair inside the first base bag to score all three runs, but would stay at first, as he was injured on the play. The three-run advantage was all Zach Schneider would need. He worked around a two-out single to induce a game-ending popout to shortstop, to save the Owls' victory.

The Bats

Miranda, and Rivera right after him, each had two hits, and five of the team's seven RBI
Wilson also had two hits, plus a walk, in the leadoff slot. He and Frank scored two runs apiece
Wilson had a go-ahead, two-out single in the sixth to score Jared DeSantolo, who had doubled
Gunnar Lambert hit his ninth home run of the season, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Owls the lead at that point as well
Each FIU pitcher besides their last issued at least one walk, towards eight garnered by FAU on the day

The Arms

Starter Jake Miednik went two innings, before the first weather delay, allowing the one unearned run on just two hits, with two strikeouts
Blake Sanderson was next, with three scoreless innings, before the second interruption of play. He also struck out two Panthers
Jordan Poore picked up the win, moving to 2-1, while Schneider's save is his 14th of the year

What's Next

FAU will move on to face the winner of No. 2 Louisiana Tech and No. 7 Rice on Thursday. If gametimes hold true, considering the Owls' Wednesday win went six hours and 48 minutes in total with the two delays, the third game of day two is scheduled for a 4 p.m. Central start (5 p.m. Eastern).