Baseball Bound for C-USA Title Game

Saturday, May 26

Biloxi, Miss.

10:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

Rice

5/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 27, 2018

Here's the final play that solidified @FAU_Baseball's first-ever appearance in the C-USA Baseball Championship game! pic.twitter.com/GIeroN0BHH

— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 27, 2018

Box Score

BILOXI, Miss. - At about 2:04 a.m. Central into the morning on Sunday, Jared DeSantolo deposited a line drive into the rightfield corner. At 2:05, Eric Rivera came all the way around from first base to cross home plate, and in the ensuing seconds, the entirety of the Florida Atlantic University baseball dugout spilled up the third base line to celebrate a 9-8, 10-inning walkoff victory over Rice to send FAU to the Conference USA Championship title game, later Sunday, at 1 p.m. Central (2 p.m. Eastern).

Quotable

"I thought their rightfielder was playing a little shallow and I said that if he (Jared DeSantolo) hits the ball down in the corner, which he's prone to do because he is a pull hitter ... we got a shot. And sure enough, it worked out," said Head Coach John McCormack. "Unbelievable what we went through, a triple play, I haven't seen one of those in nine years. We're throwing everybody that we got, we had our first baseman in right field, we didn't have any position players left, so we had a pitcher warming up to pinch run. The guys are really good, they were impressive."

The Turning Point

A truly back-and-forth affair saw Kevin Abraham of FAU (40-16-1) single up the middle in the fifth to cut the Rice (26-31-2) lead to one at 6-5. With the bases loaded and one out, back-to-back strikeouts kept Rice ahead, and they added on with an Andrew Dunlap two-run home run in the sixth. It stayed 8-5 until the home eighth, when Tyler Frank led off with a single and Gunnar Lambert walked. Two batters later, Frank came in on Eric Rivera's double, Jared DeSantolo would plate Lambert with a groundout, and Joe Montes' clutch two-out single up the middle tied things up.

The Finish

Rice threatened in the top of the 10th, on an infield single, walk, and with two outs, another walk to load the bases. But Zach Schneider got Bradley Gneiting to ground out to second to set up the winning frame. Against Rice's normal Friday night starter, Matt Canterino, making his first relief appearance of the year, Rivera drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and DeSantolo took his count to 3-2 as well. He then roped a double down the line and fair, and Rivera slid safely home for the walkoff victory.

The Bats

DeSantolo, Montes and Abraham all had three hits towards 14 for FAU
In addition, Rice pitchers issued nine walks, hit two FAU hitters, and the Rice team committed three errors
For the second straight game, the 1-2 combo of Frank and Lambert both scored two runs
Abraham's three-hit game was his first of the year and second of his Owls' career

The Arms

After Rice took their 8-5 lead, the relief trio of Drew Peden, Weston Clemente and Schneider threw up 4 2/3 innings of no-run baseball
Peden gave up just one hit in 3 1/3, with four strikeouts
Clemente pitched for the fourth straight game in this tournament, 2/3 of an inning scoreless, both punchouts
Schneider is now 6-1 on the season

What's Next

FAU advances to their first ever Conference USA title game, and will take on the winner of Sunday's first matchup between Charlotte and Southern Miss. The 49ers forced this elimination game with a walkoff victory of their own Saturday, and the two meet up at 9 a.m. Central at MGM Park. The championship game, at 1 p.m. Central (again, 2 p.m. Eastern), will be shown live on CBS Sports Network.