| BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team earned a victory over WKU in both of Saturday’s two nine-inning games and, with the doubleheader sweep, took three of four games over the weekend to earn a spot in the 2021 Conference USA Championship. A ninth-inning comeback gave the Owls (27-21, 16-12 C-USA) game one, with four runs all coming with two outs in the final frame for a 6-3 win. The nightcap saw Brock Helverson, Dylan O’Connell and Sam Drumheller combine to limit the Hilltoppers (24-24, 14-14 C-USA) to just five hits, while the Owl offense totaled 11 hits for the fourth straight game in wrapping the Saturday sweep, 6-1. Quotable Head Coach John McCormack: “The guys played great. We had enough offense, I thought the offense played admirably. We left too many runners on base, grounded into too many double plays, and left too many easy chippy runs on, so the scores could’ve been extended out. With that being said, you can’t say enough about the pitching, 18 innings, four runs. And again, we played really, really good defense. For the two days, we only had two errors. I’m proud of the guys, we needed it.” Game One The Beginning WKU scored first, the Owls took the lead on solo home runs by Bobby Morgensen in the second and B.J. Murray in the third, and the Hilltoppers tied it with a run-scoring groundout in the ensuing bottom. A WKU triple in the fifth made it a 3-2 game. The Turning Point / The Finish Trailing, and with only a runner at first and two outs in the ninth, Nicholas Toney lined a pinch-hit single to left. A walk to Wilfredo Alvarez loaded the bases, and a 3-2 walk to B.J. Murray forced in the go-ahead run. Then a flyball to left off the bat of Nolan Schanuel was misplayed, clearing the bases for a 6-3 advantage. In the bottom half, Dante Visconti was called upon for his first save opportunity, and took advantage of it, with a perfect 15-pitch 1-2-3 showing. The Arms Javi Rivera (6-0) threw eight innings, scattering eight hits, with just one walk and six strikeoutsAfter the fifth-inning triple, his third run allowed, he retired nine of the next 10, followed by a two-out single in the eighth. That was erased on a caught stealing by Shane Magrann to end his outingVisconti went flyout, groundout, groundout, for his first collegiate save The Bats Schanuel and Loden each had two hits, while Murray had a home run, drew two walks, scored twice and had two RBIHis long ball was his 12th of the season, and Morgensen hit his 10thToney improved to 4-for-4 in pinch-hit situations this season Game Two The Beginning / The Turning Point For the first time in the series, the Owls scored first; in fact, the game’s first five runs. Mitchell Hartigan had run-scoring singles in the second and third, while the second run in the second was on a groundout double play, and the second in the third a Caleb Pendleton RBI double. And in the fourth, Nolan Schanuel hit an opposite-field home run for a five-run edge. On the bump, Helverson had a hitless start, and gave way to O’Connell in the third. WKU got one in the fifth, though the Owls were a hair away from an inning-ending twin killing on the play. The Finish Drumheller then came on and closed it out, with four scoreless innings. He utlized a double play in the sixth, stranded the bases loaded in the seventh, and induced another DP in the eighth. The Owls’ final run was a two-out Murray RBI single in the eighth, and Drumheller’s ninth was quick and easy, a four-pitch, 1-2-3 inning, to complete the save. The Arms Helverson (1-0) picked up his first Owl win with a season-long outing of 2 1/3 hitless innings, with three strikeoutsToo, O’Connell had his longest effort, 2 2/3, and he also had three K’sDrumheller allowed three hits in four frames, with a strikeout, and earned his third save The Bats Loden had another three-hit game, 3-for-4, with a run scoredHe was 9-for-17 against the Hilltoppers, .529, and over the last four weekends, is batting .509 (29-for-57). Against C-USA competition overall, he’s at .484 (30-for-62), and for the season, is now hitting .391Hartigan was 2-for-4 with his two RBI, and Schanuel 2-for-5, with his 10th homer and 50th RBI of the seasonMorgensen scored twice and added two hits as well, and batted .438 in the series (7-for-16) with five runs scored What’s Next Four home games remain in 2021, next weekend against Southern Miss at FAU Baseball Stadium. Purchase your tickets now by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU’s baseball tickets website. |
