Owls Romp in Resumed Game, Fall in Nightcap

Friday, April 30

Boca Raton, Fla.

5 PM

Florida Atlantic

22-19, 11-10

FIU

16-25, 7-14

FIU

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Florida Atlantic

5/1/2021 8:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University baseball and FIU resumed the two teams' Friday series opener Saturday afternoon, and the Owls broke the game open by scoring seven in the sixth on the way to an early victory. FIU would recover to take the nightcap, for a split of the set's first two games.

When play was halted Friday, FAU (22-20, 11-11 Conference USA) was leading by just a 3-1 margin. But in their first at-bat Saturday, the Owls brought 12 batters to the plate and plated seven, highlighted by a Mitchell Hartigan grand slam. Two more in the seventh created the early mercy rule victory.

Saturday's second game saw FIU (17-25, 8-14 C-USA) get a complete-game two-hit effort from Garrett Rukes and win, 6-1.

Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
"Long day at the yard. First game, come back with a 3-1 lead, guys did a really good job. (Sam) Drumheller gets the quick out, we score a few, (he) goes back out and gets three more outs, and then we were able to 10-run rule.

The second game, what a pitcher's duel for the first five innings. But then, credit to them … (Justin Farmer) hits the three-run homer off a pretty good pitch, and we just couldn't get anything going. I thought (Garrett) Rukes was really, really good."

Game One
The Beginning
On Friday night, the Owls held an early 3-1 lead, scoring a run each in the first (a Caleb Pendleton two-out single), third (Bobby Morgensen run-scoring groundout) and fourth (Nolan Schanuel walk with the bases loaded).

The Turning Point
Hunter Cooley began the game, and was an out away from finishing the sixth when play was stopped. Upon resumption Saturday, Sam Drumheller threw one pitch to end the frame, inducing a groundout, and the Owls poured it on in the bottom half. Schanuel singled in one, and Hartigan crushed a pitch to right to bring in four. Even with the bases cleared, the Owls added on, loading them again, and seeing two more cross the plate on a B.J. Murray double.

The Finish
The Panthers got a solo home run in the seventh, but did not retire a batter in the bottom as the Owls invoked the mercy rule. Caleb Pendleton led off the frame with a solo shot of his own, Hartigan walked and Nicholas Toney was hit by a pitch, and Steven Loden brought in Hartigan with an RBI single to left to end it.

The Arms

Cooley (6-3) earned the win and was just one out from recording a quality start as well. In 5 2/3, he gave up just a run on three hits, with four strikeouts
Because Drumheller came on in a two-run game, and closed it out, he earned his second save of the year. He had two K's in his 1 1/3-inning effort

The Bats

Eight of the nine Owls recorded a hit, led by Loden's three. Of the team's 13 hits, eight were for extra bases, including a season-high six doubles
Loden scored twice and had the game-ending RBI
With two hits, two runs scored and two RBI each were Murray (2-for-5), Schanuel (2-for-4, plus a walk) and Pendleton (2-for-3, along with a BB and HBP)
Pendleton's home run was his sixth of the year; Hartigan's was his fifth, his third in two weekends against FIU, and FAU's sixth grand slam of the season
Hartigan was the fifth Owl to score twice

Game Two
The Beginning
The Owls took the lead when their second batter of the game, Murray, hit a no-doubt shot to left.

The Turning Point
FIU starter Garrett Rukes was pretty much flawless after that. He retired the next 15 Owls in order, and after walking Jalen DeBose, got a double play to end the sixth. Meanwhile, Matt Sparling had matched him inning-by-inning, with five scoreless, but some prolonged FIU at-bats forced him out after those five frames and 99 pitches. And in the top of the sixth, against the Owls' bullpen, a three-run home run would flip the score in FIU's favor.

The Finish
FIU would add three in the ninth, but Rukes didn't necessarily need them. A leadoff double by Murray in the seventh was stranded, Rukes pitched around an error in the eighth, and he finished off the complete game with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Arms

Sparling had the tough-luck no-decision with three strikeouts and just four runners reaching against him (three hits and a walk) in five innings
Dylan O'Connell (1-1) took the loss
Mike Entenza struck out five batters in three innings of relief

The Bats

Murray had both FAU hits, including his team-leading 11th home run of the season

What's Next
The Owls and Panthers will play two seven-inning games on Sunday to complete on the series. As of now, tickets are available and can be had by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU's baseball tickets website.