Baseball Edged Out in Opener By Louisiana Tech

Friday, April 12

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

23-10, 11-2

Louisiana Tech

23-10, 9-4

Louisiana Tech

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

4/12/2019 10:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 24 Florida Atlantic University baseball team left 12 runners on base, with tying runs either on base or at the plate in the last two innings, falling to Louisiana Tech Friday night in the opening game of three, 5-3.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Good Friday night game, credit to LA Tech. As I told the team, we had plenty of opportunities and we weren't able to get that hit or two that we needed; they did. They got first and second, got the three-run homer and that was the difference in the game and we weren't able to do the same thing. Back at it tomorrow, it's the first time we've been in this situation (falling on a Friday night in conference), guys need to respond."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
The Bulldogs (23-10, 9-4 Conference USA) struck first, in the first, on an infield single with two outs to score a run from second. Despite having runners on in each off the first three innings, all under two outs, it took until the fourth for FAU to scrape one in, on a two-out single by Gunnar Lambert to plate Bobby Morgensen. The aforementioned three-run home run came off the bat of Mason Mallard in the fifth, giving LA Tech a 4-1 lead.

The Finish
A Mitchell Hartigan home run for FAU (23-10, 11-2 C-USA) in the seventh was immediately answered by the Bulldogs with a solo shot of their own in the eighth. The Owls' best comeback opportunity came in the home eighth, loading the bases with one out. But two strikeouts (sandwiched around a walk to force in a run) limited the damage, and an inning-opening walk in the ninth got no further than first.

The Arms

Blake Sanderson suffered his first loss of the year, dropping to 7-1. He completed seven innings and allowed four runs, striking out three
Lefthander Dylan O'Connell gave up a solo shot in the eighth
Vince Coletti pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts

The Bats

Hartigan and Lambert, besides having the team's first two RBI, each had two hits. So too did Francisco Urbaez, and he reached for a third time on a walk
Eric Rivera drew the bases-loaded walk to produce the eighth-inning run
Pedro Pages extended his reached-base streak to 14 games with a walk in that same frame

What's Next

Game two, and the attempt to knot the series up for FAU, begins at 4 p.m. Saturday, with the pitching matchup of Mike Ruff and Logan Robbins. Tickets are still available, by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or going to baseball's ticket website.