Owls Knock Off UTSA, Secure Postseason Berth

Saturday, May 18

Boca Raton, Fla.

1 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

26-27, 12-15

UTSA

32-22, 17-10

UTSA

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley

5/18/2024 6:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic baseball needed a win or a USF loss on Saturday to secure a place in the American Conference Tournament. They got both. The Owls rallied from an early four-run deficit to win the regular season finale 6-4 over UTSA. The Owls will take on Tulane on Tuesday in Clearwater, Fla.

THE BEGINNING

UTSA got on the board first with two runs in the top of the second. Max Martzolf relieved starter Brandon Smith and stranded the bases loaded. In the third, the Roadrunners added another pair before Braden Ostrander worked out of a jam.

Florida Atlantic responded with three runs in the bottom of the third. Andrew McKenna and Brando Leroux drew bases loaded walks before Spencer Rich slapped a single through the right side to make it 4-3. Rich would later provide the RBI groundout in the fifth inning that tied the game.

THE TURNING POINT

The trio of Sam Drumheller, Tyler Murphy, and Steven Andrews dug in and limited UTSA to four hits and no runs in the fifth through eighth innings. That set the table for the FAU offense in bottom of the eighth. Rich led off with a single to start the frame and then stole second. With one out and a 2-1 count, Daulton Frank connected for his second home run of the season to give the Owls their first lead of the series.

THE FINISH

Danny Trehey entered for the ninth and worked around an error to start the inning. Trehey induced a fly out, a strikeout, and a ground out to close it out and earn the save.

QUOTABLE

Postgame with @FAUCoachMac #WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/ep7ixZ4i5V
— Florida Atlantic Baseball (@FAUBaseball) May 18, 2024

THE BATS

The Owls finished with 10 hits led by two each from Frank, McKenna, Leroux, and Rich.
Frank and Jake Millan scored two runs each.

THE ARMS

The Owls used six pitchers in relief of Smith.
Martzolf was charged with one run despite not allowing a hit.
Ostrander conceded three hits and walked two in two innings. He allowed one run.
After contributing three shutout frames on Friday, Drumheller added another scoreless inning with two strikeouts on Saturday.
Murphy allowed two hits in two shutout innings.
Andrews allowed a hit and hit a batter but induced a double play ball to get out of the eighth. He earned the win to improve to 5-2.
Trehey racked up his seventh save with a 14-pitch ninth inning.

WHAT'S NEXT

As the six-seed, the Owls will now meet the three-seed Tulane in the first round of the AAC Tournament on Tuesday in Clearwater, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m (or 47 minutes after the conclusion of the third game of the day).

THE TICKETS

To purchase FAU tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or click HERE. Stay informed by reading FAUSports.com, or through the baseball's Twitter and Instagram accounts @FAUBaseball.