Baseball Knocks Off No. 24 UCF in Season Opener

Friday, February 19

Orlando, Fla.

6:40 PM

Florida Atlantic

1-0

UCF

0-1

Florida Atlantic

UCF

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/19/2021 11:27:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. – Leadoff hitter Wilfredo Alvarez reached six times and scored five runs, and freshman Nolan Schanuel drove in four RBI in his collegiate debut, as the Florida Atlantic University baseball team doubled up No. 24 UCF on the road on Friday night, 12-6.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:
"Great way to start the season, the offense carried us tonight and we played exceptional defense. I thought Jacob Josey was good, gutted it out for five innings, and the relievers did enough. But you just can't say enough about the offense, and specifically Wilfredo (Alvarez) really was the sparkplug tonight. Happy to get a 'W' on Opening Night, looking forward to the rest of the series."

The Beginning
The Owls (1-0) got on the board first with a two-out first inning run off an error, and added three more in the next inning, all also coming with two outs. The RBI in the second came on am Alvarez double, BJ Murray triple and Schanuel single in three consecutive at-bats.

The Turning Point
Down 5-1 in the seventh, the Knights (0-1) loaded the bases with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate, and delivered on that opportunity with a grand slam. The Owls immediately answered, loading the bases themselves on a walk-single-walk, with Alvarez hit by a pitch with two outs to force in the go-ahead run. Murray followed with another walk to push the lead to two, and Schanuel brought two more in with a seeing-eye single.

The Finish
UCF chipped away with one in the eighth, but Mike Entenza was called upon, and he left the bases loaded with a popout to shallow left. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Steven Loden looked to have notched his first collegiate home run, but it was ruled foul. He would go on to walk, and Jackson Wenstrom followed with no-doubt fair homer, followed by Alvarez doing the same. Adrien Reese wrapped the night with a scoreless ninth

The Arms

Josey retired the first eight batters he faced, the last four of which consecutively by strikeout
He ended his five-inning no-decision giving up just a run on four hits, with six total K's
Hunter Cooley (1-0) was credited with the win

The Bats

Alvarez reached all six times he came to the plate (game-opening single, RBI double, two walks, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and the home run), and scored the first three of those times, plus once more each in the eighth and ninth
The five runs scored matches a program record set seven times prior, most recently by Andru Summerall against Southern Miss on May 4, 2019
Schanuel's three-hit, four-RBI night was made up of the run-scoring single in the second, another run knocked in courtesy of a double in the fourth, and the key two-run single in the eighth
Murray had two hits and two RBI, meaning the top three hitters in the Owls' lineup combined to go 8-for-14, reach 13 times, knock in nine runs and score six times
Wenstrom's blast was the third of his FAU career; Alvarez's was his second
Jared DeSantolo scored twice, and he and Mitchell Hartigan had the team's other two hits
In addition to the 11 hits, the Owls drew seven walks and two HBP

What's Next

FAU and UCF resume play tomorrow in Boca Raton for the second of three games against one another this weekend. First pitch Saturday at FAU Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. There are no tickets available for tomorrow or Sunday.