Morgensen, Josey Lead Baseball to Win over Mercer, to Survive and Advance

Saturday, June 1

Athens, Ga.

1:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

41-20

Mercer

35-29

Florida Atlantic

Mercer

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Morgensen, Josey Lead Baseball to Win over Mercer, to Survive and Advance

6/1/2019 6:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. – For the second straight day, Bobby Morgensen crushed two home runs, and freshman starter Jacob Josey threw seven innings of shutout baseball as Florida Atlantic University moved on to play another day, defeating Mercer on Saturday afternoon at the Athens Regional, 10-6.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Well, before the game started I asked Jacob Josey to throw a shutout and he responded, so coaching is easy (said with a laugh). He pitched fantastic, under not such an easy situation. He hasn't had many starts this year, (with today being) a regional and an elimination game. Thinking back to all the regionals I've (been in), this is one of the better performances we've had. And this guy (Bobby Morgensen) keeps hitting to help out. It got a little hairy at the end, we had to use (Nick) Swan and (Zach) Schneider which is not ideal, but at this point it is win and move on."

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

The Turning Point
The second saw Mercer (35-29) put the first two on, on the corners, with a sac bunt putting two in scoring position with just one out. But Josey got a strikeout and flyout to keep things scoreless, and the Owls (41-20) took the lead for good their next at-bat, on an Eric Rivera sacrifice fly. They poured on four more in the fourth, with the first of Morgensen's two homers (an opposite field two-run shot), an RBI single by Jared DeSantolo (his second of four hits on the day), and an RBI groundout by Wilfredo Alvarez.

The Finish
Five more came across in the FAU seventh, on a Morgensen three-run bomb off the scoreboard in right, and a two-out Rivera single with the bases loaded for two more. Mercer would not go away, however, scoring five of their own in the eighth, and cutting it to four with a solo home run leading off the ninth. The Bears then put two on with one out, putting the tying run in the on-deck circle. The Owls turned to Zach Schneider in a save situation, and he needed just two pitches to close out the game: a called strike, and then a comebacker right to him, starting a 1-4-3 double play for the win.

The Highlights

The Arms / The Gloves

Josey (2-0) allowed just four hits in seven scoreless frames (matching his longest outing). He walked four and struck out three in a 108-pitch effort
In the dramatic eighth, after having already scored five runs, Mercer had runners at second and third with just one out. Nick Swan came on and got a popout and groundout to limit further damage
Schneider's 16th save of the year breaks a tie to put him second all-time on the single-season list. It also marks his 31st in two seasons, tying Hugh Adams for the program record
In addition to his tremendous offensive showing, Morgensen climbed the wall in the sixth to rob Mercer's Kel Johnson of a home run

The Bats

That's four home runs in two days for Morgensen, now a team-high 11. He also walked twice Saturday
DeSantolo matched his career high of four hits, with two doubles and two singles. He scored twice in addition to the one RBI
Morgensen, Alvarez, Pedro Pages, Mitchell Hartigan and Joe Montes all had two hits. Along with DeSantolo, three Owls (Morgensen, Pages and Montes) each scored two times

What's Next

The win-or-go-home scenario is still in place for FAU, as the Owls will face the loser of Saturday's late game between Florida State and Georgia. The team's third game in Athens is set for a noon Sunday start. Should FAU win that one, they'd move on to another Sunday game, at 6 p.m., against the Saturday winner of Florida State/Georgia.