Pristine Pitching, Loden’s Blast Lift FAU Past No. 19 USM

Friday, May 14

Boca Raton, Fla.

5 PM

Florida Atlantic

28-21, 17-12

Southern Miss

33-16, 20-8

Southern Miss

Florida Atlantic

5/14/2021 10:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University baseball saw a trio of hurlers combine on a five-hitter, and that, along with Steven Loden's two-run homer in the fifth, pushed the Owls past No. 19 Southern Miss on Friday night, 3-1.

Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
"What fantastic pitching by the whole team. Hunter (Cooley) was absolutely fantastic, and it was really nice to see D.O. (Dylan O'Connell) get in there and get three outs. And Dante (Visconti) has really done a nice job of retooling himself into a late-inning guy, pumping strikes, and he has confidence.

"Mitch (Hartigan) hits the home run that no one thinks is going to get out, and it gets out, and Steven Loden shows up again, hits the two-run homer. Guys were in the game, it was a really, really good game."

The Beginning
The first two USM (33-16, 20-8 Conference USA) hitters reached, but Hunter Cooley struck out the next three in succession to retire the side. In the second, he stranded a runner at third, and left another on in the third, helped along the way.by a caught stealing that he started.

The Turning Point
A solo shot by Mitchell Hartigan in the third was the first run of the game, but was immediately answered by a two-out USM double in the top of the fourth. But then, in the home half of that same inning, after Nolan Schanuel singled and advanced to second on an error, Loden lifted a no-doubt blast to right for the go-ahead runs.

The Finish
After allowing a leadoff single in the fifth, Cooley would retire nine of the next 10 batters he faced to complete seven innings of one-run ball. Dylan O'Connell threw 12 pitches in a 1-2-3 eighth, and Dante Visconti replicated that, 12 pitches as well, for a perfect ninth and the save.

The Arms

Cooley (8-3) scattered five hits and equaled his career high with seven strikeouts
O'Connell's eighth was groundout, flyout, groundout; Visconti's ninth was groundout, foul out, groundout. He picked up his second career save, in as many weekends

The Bats

Loden, the reigning C-USA Hitter of the Week, crushed his fourth home run of the season, and recorded his 19th and 20th RBI
For Hartigan, it was his sixth HR
Schanuel and Jackson Wenstrom each had two hits

What's Next
Saturday will feature a doubleheader of two seven-inning games, and prior to the opener, Senior Day ceremonies will take place on the field at about 1:15 p.m. Get tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU's baseball tickets website.