BOCA RATON, Fla.  – Florida Atlantic baseball improved to 9-1 after an 11-1 victory over Fordham on Saturday at the FAU Baseball Stadium. The Owls will look to sweep the Rams in the finale on Sunday on noon.Â
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Fordham scored in the first inning for the second straight day, but the Owls immediately responded in the bottom of the opening inning. After a balk and a wild pitch with the bases loaded led to two runs,
John Martinez lined a double to the left field gap to make it 3-1 FAU. Fordham made three errors in the second inning, and the Owls cashed in for two more runs.
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The Rams had chances in the fourth and fifth innings to cut into the deficit but failed to convert.
Tyler Murphy pitched around two one-out singles in the fourth.
Max Martzolf entered in the fifth with a runner on second and needed just four pitches to record all three outs.
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The Owls scored two runs in the sixth on a pair of sacrifice flies by
John Schroeder and
Nick Romano. In the seventh,
Brando Leroux connected for his first home run of the season, launching a 3-2 offering to left. Another error – the fifth of the game by Fordham – led to two more runs and the 11-1 final. Â
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- Jake Duer had his fourth four-hit game of the season – he doubled, singled three times, and scored four runs
- Martinez (2-for-4) and Jake Millan (2-for-3) also finished with multi-hit games
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- Murphy pitched into the fifth inning before giving way to Martzolf, who earned his fourth win of the season (4-0)
- Reilly Witmer, Ryan Buckler, and Carter Holjes covered the final four frames and held the Rams scoreless
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The Owls and Rams will meet for the series finale on Sunday at noon.
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