Baseball Wins Resumed Game, Falls in Second Matchup to WKU

Friday, April 19

Bowling Green, Ky.

5:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

26-11, 13-3

WKU

17-18-1, 8-7-1

Florida Atlantic

WKU

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

4/20/2019 9:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The No. 27 Florida Atlantic University baseball team split with WKU on Saturday, winning the completion of Friday's suspended game, 8-5, and falling to the Hilltoppers in the nightcap, 11-4.

GAME ONE

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Really good game. I thought that, especially from the point that (WKU) tied it up, our guys really really played well. Scored two the next inning, then added a couple more after. We had some really nice pitching performances out of the pen. (Michael) Schuler did another good job, Zach (Schneider) comes in and gets a 1-2-3 save. Offensively, it was a good day. We get eight runs on 14 hits, Eric (Rivera) had four hits. Especially with the layoff, and a possible change in momentum, I was very proud of our guys."

The Turning Point
The game was called Friday with the Owls leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, and an inning later, the Hilltoppers tied it with a three-run home run by Jake Sanford. But as McCormack alluded to, two in the sixth plus another one in both the seventh and eighth provided enough cushion for the win.

The Finish
Michael Schuler threw three innings of one-run relief, picking up the win, and it took Zach Schneider just nine pitches to deliver the final three outs in a row to earn the save.

The Arms

Blake Sanderson started on Friday, and had thrown 3 2/3 innings of four-hit, one-run ball before not being able to return due to the game's suspension
At that point, there were two on, two out, and a 0-2 count, and Dylan O'Connell needed one pitch to strikeout Sam McElreath to end the fourth
Schuler gave up just three hits and a solo homer, throwing 36 of his 47 pitches for strikes. He improved to 3-0 on the year
Schneider's ninth save went strikeout looking, groundout to first and flyout to leftfield

The Bats

Eric Rivera had four hits, and reached a fifth time on a two-base error. He scored three runs and added an RBI
Andru Summerall had three RBI, on a double in the first, a single in the third and sacrifice fly in the seventh. He was 2-for-3 and scored twice as well
Off the bench, Richie Nizza had a two-out pinch-hit RBI single, and later singled for a second time and scored
Pedro Pages also had two hits, while Francisco Urbaez walked three times

GAME TWO

Quotable

Coach McCormack:
"Anytime you play the second game of a doubleheader, it's not easy. We gave up the six-spot in the bottom of the second, and we were never really able to get back in the game. We had some opportunities, but credit to WKU, whenever we had something going, they made some big pitches, made some good plays in the field. It wasn't our finest day, but we have Sunday to win the series."

The Turning Point
The Hilltoppers (18-18-1, 9-7-1 Conference USA) loaded the bases with two outs in the second, and a full-count walk forced in a run, followed by a two-run single and three-run home run.

The Finish
Twice, the Owls (26-12, 13-4 C-USA) cut it to five, but a three-run eighth by WKU pretty much sealed it. Late-inning FAU runs came courtesy of a Pages single in the seventh, and a Joe Montes home run leading off the eighth.

The Arms

Mike Ruff (4-2) was saddled with the loss
Turning in a quality relief outing was Eric Keating, three innings and only having an unearned run come in against him. He also struck out four
Jordan Poore made his season debut on the hill to start the seventh, and Dylan Carter was aided by a double play to end the frame
Nick Swan turned in a 1-2-3 eighth, the only clean frame in the game for Owls' pitching, on three consecutive lineouts

The Bats

Nizza added his second two-hit game of the day, scoring twice, and notched his second two-out RBI as well. He was 4-for-7 over the course of the two games Saturday
BJ Murray had a pinch-hit double and scored on the Nizza single
Montes had a single in addition to his fourth home run of the year

What's Next

The finale Sunday starts at 2 p.m. Eastern, with the starting pitching matchup of FAU's Jon Jon Kostantis and WKU's Joe Filosa. This upcoming Tuesday, the Owls travel to Gainesville to take on Florida, and will be home the following weekend, April 26-28, versus Old Dominion. Get tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or going to baseball's ticket website.