Baseball Falls in Opener in Athens

Friday, May 31

Athens, Ga.

12:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

40-20

Florida State

37-21

Florida State

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: Eric Espada/Owlpix.com

5/31/2019 4:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. – Florida Atlantic University's opener at the Athens Regional was a slugfest, featuring nine combined home runs, and unfortunately the Owls were outslugged by Florida State, in a 13-7 final at Foley Field.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"You know, it's an offensive game. It's no secret we needed to pitch better. Credit to Florida State hitters, they did a really nice job. The wind, they used the elements, we used the elements. We just have to pitch better. ... I thought the turning point in the game was bottom of the sixth, bases loaded and we had nobody out. Throughout the year, we've been able to put up a crooked number, three, four. We were in a really good count, 3-1, and ground ball to first base, then the ball hit off (Chase) Haney's foot and they were able to get an out out of it. We only scored two runs, and they got out of the inning. That really gave them some breathing room and kind of put us on our heels a little bit."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
Florida State (37-21) got the scoring started with three homers in a five-run second, and never trailed in the win. The Owls (40-20) cut it to 5-2 (on a Bobby Morgensen home run), and 6-3 (a solo homer by Joe Montes), but FSU got their fourth round-tripper for an 8-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth. FAU responded by loading the bases with no outs, but FSU was able to wriggle out of it, giving up just two run-scoring groundouts and getting a strikeout to end the threat.

The Finish
After both teams scored twice in the seventh, making it 10-7 (on FAU's side, it was another two-run shot by Morgensen), the eighth was a rare scoreless frame on each side. Up three, the Seminoles tacked on three more in the top half of the ninth for the final margin. The Owls were retired in order in their final turn.

The Arms

Blake Sanderson (8-3) got the loss
Hunter Cooley had the only scoreless line of six FAU pitchers, in a 1 1/3-inning stint
In the eighth, Michael Schuler got a big strikeout to strand two
Eric Keating finished it out, giving up a tough-luck unearned run on a two-out error in the ninth

The Bats

Morgensen's seventh inning blast was, like his first, an opposite-field shot. He now has nine on the season
All told, he had a three-hit day, with three runs scored and four RBI
The only other multi-hit Owl was Francisco Urbaez, going 2-for-4 with a single, double and run scored
Montes' homer was his ninth of the year as well
Pedro Pages reached twice (a double and a walk) and scored twice

What's Next

The Owls will face either Georgia or Mercer in a must-win game on Saturday, at 1 p.m.