Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Saturday, March 16
Boca Raton, Fla.
4:00 PM
Florida Atlantic
13-7, 0
12
vs
7
Rice
8-13, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
4
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
7
13
1
Florida Atlantic
0
0
1
0
6
3
2
0
X
12
16
2
Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com
Baseball Clinches Opening C-USA Series With Late Flurry
3/16/2019 9:40:00 PM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Through four and a half innings, the Florida Atlantic University baseball team trailed Rice, 5-1. Three home innings and 11 hits and runs later, FAU had set season highs in both those categories, and have taken the first two against the visiting Owls to clinch the home series – and first Conference USA set – of the season. NOTE: Sunday's finale start time has already been changed, it will begin at 11 a.m. ahead of forecasted inclement weather.
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"Down 4-0 and then 5-1, and guys just kept battling and battling against a really good pitcher. That was a really big-time inning where we scored six, and we were able to score three the next inning … Just a really good job, proud of the guys."
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Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac
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The Turning Point
Rice (8-13, 0-2 C-USA) scored four in the first, and again, led 5-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth. After an out to start, the FAU (13-7, 2-0 C-USA) rally began when Eric Rivera and Gunnar Lambert both walked. After a wild pitch, Francisco Urbaez lined a single up the middle to plate them both. Andru Summerall and Pedro Pages notched back-to-back singles to load the bases, and a Bobby Morgensen sacrifice fly cut it to a one-run game. With two out, Joe Montes doubled to right-center to give FAU the lead, and pinch-hitter Mitchell Hartigan pushed in another with a single for a six-run inning to make it 7-5.
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The Finish
FAU scored three in the sixth (a Rivera solo home run, plus RBI singles by Pages and Montes) and two more in the seventh (a Lambert RBI double and Summerall run-scoring single). Reliever Hunter Cooley pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth to pick up the victory, and Dylan Carter and Jacob Josey closed out the league win, FAU's seventh straight victory overall (and 10th win in the last 11).
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The Arms
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QuotableÂ
Head Coach John McCormack:"Down 4-0 and then 5-1, and guys just kept battling and battling against a really good pitcher. That was a really big-time inning where we scored six, and we were able to score three the next inning … Just a really good job, proud of the guys."
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Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac
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The Turning Point
Rice (8-13, 0-2 C-USA) scored four in the first, and again, led 5-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth. After an out to start, the FAU (13-7, 2-0 C-USA) rally began when Eric Rivera and Gunnar Lambert both walked. After a wild pitch, Francisco Urbaez lined a single up the middle to plate them both. Andru Summerall and Pedro Pages notched back-to-back singles to load the bases, and a Bobby Morgensen sacrifice fly cut it to a one-run game. With two out, Joe Montes doubled to right-center to give FAU the lead, and pinch-hitter Mitchell Hartigan pushed in another with a single for a six-run inning to make it 7-5.
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The Finish
FAU scored three in the sixth (a Rivera solo home run, plus RBI singles by Pages and Montes) and two more in the seventh (a Lambert RBI double and Summerall run-scoring single). Reliever Hunter Cooley pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth to pick up the victory, and Dylan Carter and Jacob Josey closed out the league win, FAU's seventh straight victory overall (and 10th win in the last 11).
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The Arms
- Mike Ruff struck out five in four innings, and gave up just one run in his final three innings, before giving way to Cooley
- In his first relief appearance since the first series of the year, Cooley allowed only one hit and had three strikeouts
- Carter had a scoreless eighth, then gave way to Josey after a 25-minute rain delay. After eight innings at shortstop, Josey recorded two K's and ended the game with a groundout
- The 12 runs and 16 hits were each one more than FAU posted exactly two weeks ago against Monmouth
- Three Owls – Urbaez, Pages and Montes – had three hits. Urbaez and Montes each drove in three runs; Rivera and Lambert both scored three times
- For Urbaez, that marked his first three-hit game at FAU, and raised his season average to .422
- Rivera now has 12 multi-hit games in the Owls' first 20, has a nine-game hitting streak, and is at an even .400
What's Next
Sunday, once more, will start at 11 a.m., as FAU looks for a possible sweep. Nick Swan will start for the home Owls; Jackson Parthasarathy goes for the visitors. Buy tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting baseball's ticket website.Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cooley, Hunter (2-3)
L: Addison Moss (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Justin Dunlap 1 ; Cade Edwards 1
HR: Andrew Dunlap 1
RBI: Khevin Brewer 1 ; Bradley Gneiting 1 ; Andrew Dunlap 3 ; Rodrigo Duluc 1 ; Cade Edwards 1
SF: Rodrigo Duluc 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Justin Dunlap 1 ; Bradley Gneiting 1 ; Andrew Dunlap 1 ; Justin Collins 1 ; Dominic DiCaprio 1 ; Antonio Cruz 1 ; Aaron Beaulaurier 1
Batting:
2B: Lambert, Gunnar 1 ; Urbaez, Francisco 1 ; Montes, Joe 1
HR: Rivera, Eric 1
RBI: Rivera, Eric 1 ; Lambert, Gunnar 1 ; Urbaez, Francisco 3 ; Summerall, Andru 1 ; Pages, Pedro 1 ; Morgensen, Bobby 1 ; Montes, Joe 3 ; Hartigan, Mitchell 1
SF: Morgensen, Bobby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rivera, Eric 3 ; Lambert, Gunnar 3 ; Urbaez, Francisco 2 ; Summerall, Andru 1 ; Pages, Pedro 2 ; Montes, Joe 1
HBP: Montes, Joe 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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OF/RHP
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OF
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OF/INF
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INF
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