Baseball Upended in Opener by ODU

Friday, April 26

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

28-13, 14-5

Old Dominion

25-16, 8-11

Old Dominion

Florida Atlantic

4/26/2019 10:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team fell in the series opener Friday night to Old Dominion, 7-2.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Extremely disappointing night, I take full responsibility, our guys weren't ready to play. From the first pitch, we gave up a three-spot in the first, it could've been worse. Relief pitching wasn't good, we had chances to drive in guys … we made defensive errors. It was kind of shocking, honestly."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
ODU (25-16, 8-11 Conference USA) scored three times in the first inning and wouldn't relinquish the lead. Five singles, two scoring runs, along with a bases-loaded walk, brought all nine Monarchs to the plate. FAU's (28-13, 14-5 C-USA) only scoring of the night came in the bottom half when Andru Summerall took a 2-2 offering over the fence in rightfield to cut it to one.

The Finish
That's all the Owls would get, as ODU pitching scattered five hits over the final eight home innings. The Monarchs added one in the fifth and three more in the sixth, on a Vinnie Pasquantino home run.

The Arms

Blake Sanderson (7-2) settled down after the first, allowing only four hits and a run in his final four innings of work. He struck out seven and walked two in five frames
In the seventh, inheriting two on with one out, Dylan O'Connell walked one to load the bases, but then got a strikeout and groundout to leave three on
Nick Swan pitched two scoreless innings: a 1-2-3 eighth, and despite two errors and a hit, left the bases loaded in the ninth as well

The Bats

Three Owls had six of the team's seven hits: Summerall, Joe Montes (who singled in the first and scored on the home run) and Bobby Morgensen, all with two apiece
Pinch-hitter Jared DeSantolo doubled to lead off the ninth, but got no further
Pedro Pages and Eric Rivera each drew a walk to extend their consecutive-game streak of reaching base to 22 and 17, respectively

What's Next

Game two on Saturday starts at 4 p.m, with Mike Ruff taking the hill for FAU against Nick Pantos of the Monarchs. Buy tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or going to baseball's ticket website.