CLEARWATER, Fla. – Florida Atlantic baseball eliminated UTSA from the American Conference Tournament on Wednesday, coming away with a 12-5 victory. After a day off on Thursday, the Owls will play the loser between Charlotte and Tulane on Friday.
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With both FAU (27-28) and UTSA (32-24) coming off late nights on Tuesday, it was the Owls who drew first blood in a loser-goes-home game on Wednesday.
Christian Adams lined a double to left center in the top of the first to score
Daulton Frank. UTSA responded with a solo homer in the bottom of the frame to tie it. Â Â
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The Roadrunners loaded the bases and scored two in the second, but freshman
Trey Beard settled in and limited the damage.
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The Owls needed a big inning, and they got it in the fourth.
Spencer Rich's two-RBI single with the bases loaded tied the game at 3-3. A two-run double by
John Schroeder and a first-pitch single by Adams led to three more on the board. FAU departed the inning with a 7-3 lead.
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Florida Atlantic pulled away for good with a three-run seventh. A sac fly from
Brando Leroux, an RBI single by
Patrick Ward, and an infield single by
Jalen DeBose made it a 10-3 game.
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After UTSA scored two in the bottom of the eighth, Leroux went deep to the opposite field to lead off the ninth. A Roadrunners' error contributed to one more run.
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Steven Andrews followed
Sam Drumheller out of the bullpen and set UTSA down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
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- Adams finished 4-for-4 and reached base five times.
- Rich totaled a 3-for-5 line with a double, two RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.
- Leroux, Schroeder, Jalen DeBose, and Jake Millan all added two hits apiece.
- Frank stole a base and scored a run.
- The 12 runs were scored by 10 different players. Â
- Beard completed five innings with three runs on six hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. The freshman improved to 4-3.
- Drumheller bridged the gap to the ninth with three innings. He allowed two unearned runs.
- Andrews struck out two of three hitters he faced in the ninth.
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The Owls will wait to see whether they meet Charlotte or Tulane at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The 49ers and the Green Wave play the second game on Thursday (estimated 4:30 p.m. first pitch).
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