Baseball’s Victory in Semis Sends Them to C-USA Title Game; Nets McCormack 400th Career Win

Saturday, May 25

Biloxi, Miss.

1:30 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

40-18

UTSA

28-30

Florida Atlantic

UTSA

Baseball’s Victory in Semis Sends Them to C-USA Title Game; Nets McCormack 400th Career Win

5/25/2019 6:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BILOXI, Miss. – The No. 29 Florida Atlantic University baseball team went out to a 8-0 lead early, and reliever Nick Swan pitched six innings of one-hit shutout baseball to lead the Owls past UTSA, 11-4, and into the Conference USA Championship title game. The victory also marked No. 400 in the head coaching career of John McCormack.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Leading into championship day, that's exactly what we needed to do. Got on the board early, made them chase us, didn't use a lot of pitching … Really proud of the guys, Nick Swan really bailed us out. Up 8-0, (Jacob) Josey got into a little bit of trouble, and Nick was able to roll the game out which is absolutely amazing."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

Career Milestone
In his 11th season atop the helm of FAU baseball, Coach McCormack is now 400-240-2:
57940

The Turning Point
The Owls (40-18) got out to their third lead is as many games in Biloxi, with two in the first, on a two-run single with the bases loaded by Francisco Urbaez. Joe Montes led off the second with the first of what would be two home runs on the day, and like déjà vu all over again, Urbaez came up in the same situation, and again, plated two with a single for a 6-0 lead. It would be 8-0 after a two-run shot by Eric Rivera in the third.

The Finish
UTSA (28-30) halved the deficit with four of their own in the bottom half of the third, but that would be all they would get. Swan retired the first six he faced and utilized groundout double plays to erase a hit batter in the sixth and leadoff single in the seventh. Insurance runs came courtesy of another Montes home run, and two in the ninth, with Montes gaining a third RBI on an error, plus a bases-loaded walk to Gunnar Lambert.

The Arms

Jacob Josey started and went three innings
Swan (3-1) had a season-long outing with his six frames, facing one over the minimum with just three baserunners reaching against him
He needed only 78 pitches for his winning outing, 50 of which went for strikes

The Bats

Urbaez, Rivera and Montes combined for 10 of the Owls' 15 hits
For Urbaez, his four hits and four RBI both represent new FAU career highs. He was also hit by a pitch, reaching base five times
Rivera scored three times out of the leadoff slot and was a triple away from the cycle on his 3-for-6 afternoon. His home run was his sixth
Montes, also 3-for-6 and also scoring three times, recorded his first career two-homer game with FAU. He's up to eight home runs this year
Wilfredo Alvarez notched his second straight two-hit game

What's Next

The C-USA Championship title game to determine the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament begins at 2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, with the Owls facing Southern Miss. It will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network.