BOCA RATON, Fla.  – Florida Atlantic baseball battled back from an early deficit to knock off Bucknell 15-8 on Tuesday night. The two sides will meet again on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. first pitch at the FAU Baseball Stadium.
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The Owls (13-3) had several opportunities to score runs in the early innings but had trouble converting. After a bases-loaded wild pitch in the first opened the scoring, FAU had runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings. In each instance, they came away empty-handed. Bucknell (6-7), meanwhile, capitalized on its chances, tying the game in the second and then going ahead 5-1 with a four-run fourth inning.
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Florida Atlantic finally broke through in the fifth -- but it took some help from the Bison defense. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches set the table for
Joey Slattery with one out. Slattery hit a pop-up to shallow center field that fell in no-man's land between the center fielder, right fielder, and second baseman. One run scored on the play.
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After
Marshall Lipsey drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-3 and
Jake Duer flew out,
Jake Millan came to the plate. Millan's fly ball down the right field line was misjudged by the Bucknell right fielder allowing all three runners to score and giving the Owls a 6-5 lead. FAU batted around in the inning though they recorded just one hit in the process.
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The floodgates had opened for the Owls' offense, and they added another three in the sixth.
Kyle Boylston contributed a pinch-hit RBI, and Lipsey roped a triple into the right-field corner to bring in two more.
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Ward launched a two-run home run in the seventh, and the Owls batted around again in the eighth. Ward and
Ayden Garcia each provided RBI hits to bring the run total for the night up to 15. Bucknell scored two in the ninth, but the final outcome had long been decided by that point.
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- The Owls drew 17 walks to tie the single-game program record set on March 7, 1999, against Michigan State.
- Lipsey reached base five times with three walks, a double, and the Owls' first triple of the season. He also drove in three runs.
- Ward finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and his first home run of the campaign.
- Garcia reached base five times with a hit and four walks on the night.
- The teams combined for seven errors -- four by Bucknell and three by the Owls.Â
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- Zach Kilby started and lasted 3.2 innings. He walked two and struck three while conceding four runs, three of which were earned.
- Braden Ostrander worked out of a fourth-inning jam. He recorded a strikeout to escape the fourth, struck out the side in the fifth, and then fanned the first batter he faced in the sixth. The five strikeouts tied his career high setback in 2022.Â
- Ostrander (1-0) was credited with his first win of the season.
- Kide Adetuyi walked two and allowed one hit and one run in 1.1 innings.
- Ryan Buckler set a new career high with three strikeouts in 1.1 scoreless frames.
- Freshman Joey Abbazia made his third appearance of the season in the ninth inning and recorded one strikeout while conceding two runs.
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The Owls will look to sweep the two-game set on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on FAUSports.TV.