Baseball Clinches Series Against Northeastern After Saturday Comeback

Saturday, March 9

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

8-7

Northeastern

5-8

Northeastern

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Baseball Clinches Series Against Northeastern After Saturday Comeback

3/9/2019 9:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Down 3-0 early, and 5-4 heading into the seventh, the Florida Atlantic University scored five times in their last two at-bats to hold off Northeastern in a 9-6 win Saturday to clinch the weekend set ahead of the Sunday finale.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Really proud of the guys, that was a hard-fought win against a good opponent. Had some really good relief pitching, and we had four RBI with two outs … which is huge. I'm proud of the guys, they played great, the emotions stayed throughout the game, and it was a good night for us."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
Trailing for the second time on the day, after a solo home run in the top of the seventh, the Owls (8-7) had no one on and two outs in the bottom half. Andru Summerall then singled to right, and a walk to Francisco Urbaez put the go-ahead run on the basepaths. Jared DeSantolo singled to tie things, and on an 0-2 pitch, Joe Montes went up the middle for a two-run single to score two and push the FAU lead to 7-5.

The Finish
Northeastern (5-8) scored once in the eighth, but Vince Coletti struck out Jared Dupere, who had homered his previous at-bat, to leave the tying run on second. Two-out offensive magic was replicated in the home eighth, as Summerall lined a single through the right side off lefthanded reliever Andrew Misiaszek, scoring two more for insurance. Closer Zach Schneider then dealt a quick 10-pitch, 1-2-3 ninth to pick up the save.

The Arms/The Gloves

Reliever Dylan Carter started a key double play against the first batter he faced in the third. Northeastern was leading at that point 3-1 and had two on with one out, when he deftly fielded a comebacker, beginning a 1-4-3 DP
Coletti (1-2) picked up the win, and was also the beneficiary of a double play, in the seventh (a more customary 6-4-3)
He threw two innings, giving up two hits and a run
Schneider's second save of the season came, in order, strikeout, flyout, groundout

The Bats

Eric Rivera recorded his fourth straight multi-hit game (and seventh in the last nine), going 2-for-4. He had RBI singles in the third and fourth innings
In the fourth, his run-scoring single followed back-to-back RBI basehits by true freshmen Mitchell Hartigan and Jacob Josey
Josey had two hits, as did both Summerall and DeSantolo. For Hartigan, he posted his first collegiate RBI
Summerall became the sixth Owl to move into double digits in RBI on the season (now at 11) with his two-run single in the eighth

What's Next

The series finale Sunday is set for noon. Mike Ruff will take the ball for FAU against Northeastern's Sean Mellen. Buy tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting baseball's ticket website.