Baseball Drops Second Straight, 2-1, to Visiting Bulldogs

Saturday, April 13

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

23-11, 11-3

Louisiana Tech

24-10, 10-4

Louisiana Tech

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

4/13/2019 7:21:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 24 Florida Atlantic University baseball team was shut out until the ninth, halved the deficit, but left the tying run at second in a 2-1 loss to Louisiana Tech Saturday night. That clinches the series for the Bulldogs with the finale set for noon on Sunday.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"I thought it was a good college baseball game, Mike Ruff pitched really well, (Vince) Coletti did a nice job. In these type of games, you've got to make plays to get out of innings and they did that. A nice play up the middle, the rightfielder made a spectacular catch down here, and we weren't able to do that."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
The winning runs came all the way back in the second inning, when a long flyball to right dropped for a triple, allowing two Louisiana Tech (24-10, 10-4 Conference USA) runners to come across. The best scoring opportunity for FAU (23-11, 11-3 C-USA) came in the third, but with the bases loaded and two outs, Mason Robinson made a sliding catch in foul territory to retire the side.

The Finish
It was literally all zeroes on both sides until the ninth, when Andru Summerall hit a one-out solo shot to right to make it 2-1. Pedro Pages singled, and pinch-runner Richie Nizza got to second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout looking ended a chance at a tie and gave the Bulldogs the series.

The Arms

Mike Ruff (4-1) took the tough-luck loss. In seven innings, he gave up just five hits and three walks, striking out nine
With two scoreless innings was Vince Coletti, walking one and allowing a hit while striking out two

The Bats

Pages had two of the team's four hits, singles in the second and the ninth
Summerall's home run was his third of the year
Eric Rivera had the other hit, another single that came all the way back in the third

What's Next

The finale Sunday pits Jon Jon Kostantis against Louisiana Tech's Logan Bailey, starting at noon. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or going to baseball's ticket website.