Owls Win Tuesday Night Barnburner over FGCU

Tuesday, March 30

Fort Myers, Fla.

5 PM

Florida Atlantic

15-9

Florida Gulf Coast

13-10

Florida Atlantic

FGCU

Photo by: Jim Rassol/Owlpix.com

3/30/2021 9:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team stormed all the way back from an early 8-0 deficit, and eventually made a second later comeback while holding off Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night, winning by a score of 13-11.

Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
"Another Tuesday night wild affair, got off to a really bad start for the Owls. We were down 8-0, then we were able to scratch and claw, and (Victor) Castillo ends up with a grand slam to really give us some energy and life. On the back end, D.O. (Dylan O'Connell) was really good, and Braden (Ostrander) was really good, we went four innings with zeroes. It wasn't pretty, but we won, and now we move on, back to conference play on Friday."

The Beginning
FGCU (13-10) rapped five home runs in the first two innings for the aforementioned eight-run lead. Meanwhile, FAU (15-9) loaded the bases in both the second and third. Unfortunately, the Eagles kept the Owls off the board in the former; and in the latter, a Mitchell Hartigan single knocked in two, but that's all FAU would get.

The Turning Point
In the fourth, the Owls chipped away with a run-scoring single by B.J. Murray, a Bobby Morgensen sacrifice fly, and Hartigan's third RBI of the night, on another single. Then, with two outs, Victor Castillo capped the seven-run frame with a grand slam to right for a 9-8 lead.

The Finish
FGCU scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth, to tie and then move back ahead, but again, the Owls took advantage of shaky Eagles' pitching. For the fourth time in the game, they loaded the bases (on a walk and two hit batters), forced in runs with a HBP and walk to tie, and Jackson Wenstrom's RBI groundout made for a 12-11 edge.

From there, it was nearly all zeroes. Dylan O'Connell pitched the game's first 1-2-3 inning, on either side, in the seventh, matched in the top of the eighth by FGCU. When a walk started the home eighth, Braden Ostrander was called upon, and he got the next three out in order, ending with a strikeout, the 11th of the game by Owls' pitching. Alvarez tripled to lead off the FAU ninth, and came in on Murray's third single of the night for insurance, and Ostrander nailed it down in the ninth (and among the outs a diving catch by Castillo in left).

The Arms

Hartigan made his first pitching appearance of the year, drawing the start
He, Nicholas Del Prado, Adrien Reese, Brock Helverson and O'Connell all struck out two Eagles each
O'Connell (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless, and Ostrander his second save in as many games, also with two zeroes

The Bats

Castillo's first career home run (and, obviously, grand slam) also produced the first four RBI – eventually five – of his young Owl tenure
Hartigan and Murray both had three hits, Hartigan three RBI and Murray two
Five Owls scored twice each: Alvarez, Murray, Nolan Schanuel, Hartigan and Jared DeSantolo
Of the 10 Owls that batted and recorded a plate appearance, all reached base, on totals of 13 hits, eight walks and six batters hit by a pitch

What's Next
The Owls continue Conference USA play this weekend, a four-game set on the road at Charlotte. Friday night's opener will start at 6 p.m. Next week, April 9-11, is the team's return home when they host Old Dominion. Tickets are, as of now, still available by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU's baseball tickets website (though, all 15 FAU home games to this point have reached capacity).

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Charlotte

L, 5-9

Apr 2 (Fri)

4 PM

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: O'Connell, Dylan (1-0)

L: MILLER, Mason (2-3)

S: Ostrander, Braden (2)

Florida Atlantic

Batting:

2B: Alvarez, Wilfredo 1 ; Wenstrom, Jackson 1

3B: Alvarez, Wilfredo 1

HR: Castillo, Victor 1

RBI: Murray, B.J. 2 ; Morgensen, Bobby 1 ; Hartigan, Mitchell 3 ; Castillo, Victor 5 ; Toney, Nicholas 1 ; Wenstrom, Jackson 1

SF: Morgensen, Bobby 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Alvarez, Wilfredo 2 ; Murray, B.J. 2 ; Schanuel, Nolan 2 ; Morgensen, Bobby 1 ; Hartigan, Mitchell 2 ; DeSantolo, Jared 2 ; Castillo, Victor 1 ; Wenstrom, Jackson 1