Baseball Rally Comes up Inches Short

Saturday, February 23

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

3-3

Illinois

5-0

Illinois

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/23/2019 7:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team scraped together a run in each of the seventh and eighth innings, and had the tying run at the plate, but a chance to tie ended at the wall in the bottom of the ninth in a 5-3 loss Saturday to Illinois.

Quotable
"Another decent ballgame, but you've got to be able to get that additional hit," said Head Coach John McCormack. "I thought their starting pitcher (Andy Fisher) did a really nice job, I thought (Ryan) Sandberg did a pretty good job, but we've got to that additional hit to get (Fisher) out of the game."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
The Owls (3-3) enjoyed a short-lived lead, as Andru Summerall's solo home run in the second was erased by two Illinois (5-0) runs in the third. The Illini added on with two more in the sixth, and another in the seventh, for a 5-1 advantage.

The Finish
FAU chipped away, scoring their seventh inning run on a throwing error, and making it a two-run game with a two-out RBI single by Francisco Urbaez in the eighth. In their final turn, Wilfredo Alvarez rapped a hard-hit single through the right side to lead off the ninth. Two batters later, and on a 3-2 count, Jacob Pino hit it about 399 feet to straight-away center, but Illini centerfield Zac Taylor caught it with his back against the wall to prevent what would have been a tie and end the game.

The Arms

After allowing the first two runs, starter Ryan Sandberg settled down for two zeroes before exiting
Michael Schuler was the star of the night for the Owls on the hill, throwing 2 2/3 hitless and scoreless frames, with three strikeouts

The Bats

Besides Summerall's home run, a Bobby Morgensen single was the only other Owl hit through six
Pinch-hitter BJ Murray walked and scored in the seventh
Three hits came in the eighth: A Pedro Pages single up the middle, a Joe Montes single to left, and Urbaez's RBI single through the left side (to score Pages)

What's Next
The series finale commences at noon Sunday, with the pitching matchup consisting of Mike Ruff versus Cyrillo Watson of Illinois. Get tickets at 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by visiting baseball's ticket website.