Ruff Pitches Baseball Past WKU for a 2-0 Start at the C-USA Championship

Thursday, May 23

Biloxi, Miss.

8:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

39-18

WKU

26-28-1

Florida Atlantic

WKU

Ruff Pitches Baseball Past WKU for a 2-0 Start at the C-USA Championship

5/24/2019 2:44:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

BILOXI, Miss. – Mike Ruff pitched into the eighth inning, allowing just three hits and a run while striking out 11, and his offense did enough in pushing Florida Atlantic University baseball to a 6-1 victory in the team's second game at The First 2019 C-USA Baseball Championship.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"(Mike Ruff's) best outing, I think, in an FAU uniform. Did a really nice job, had some huge strikeouts there in the early innings. We just couldn't put (WKU) away … but I can't say enough about Mike Ruff. We scored enough runs to make it stand. It's good to get a win and be able to get a day off tomorrow."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
Ruff started out his night by retiring the first six batters he faced, four by punchout, while the FAU (39-18) offense staked him to an early 3-0 lead. WKU (26-28-1) loaded the bases with one out in the third, and cut the deficit to two on a sacrifice fly, but a strikeout of Jake Sanford stranded two, and the Hilltoppers wouldn't get any closer.

The Finish
Runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth for the Owls coincided with Ruff striking out batters in every single inning until walking a runner with one out in the eighth. Dylan O'Connell came on to get the next two, on a strikeout and fielder's choice, and dealt a scoreless ninth as well, culminating in FAU's 13th punchout for the 27th out of the game.

The Arms

Ruff (6-4) gave up only two singles and two walks after the third
His 11 strikeouts matched a career high
O'Connell notched two more K's and only allowed a walk in 1 2/3 scoreless

The Bats

Both Pedro Pages and Mitchell Hartigan had three hits
Hartigan scored three times, including the game's first run, on a groundout in the second
Wilfredo Alvarez's first home run of the season came in that same frame
After a Bobby Morgensen double, Hartigan brought him in with a double of his own, in the third
The other three Owl runs came on an error, and two bases-loaded walks
Besides 13 hits, FAU batters drew 10 walks, were hit by four pitches and only struck out once

What's Next

The Owls will have Friday off with their 2-0 mark, and will await the surviving team in a rematch against either WKU or UTSA on Saturday. It will be the second game of the day, scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. Eastern start.