BOCA RATON, Fla. – For the second consecutive season, Florida Atlantic baseball paired senior day with a marathon extra innings game. After celebrating 11 departing upperclassmen in a pregame ceremony, the Owls fell by a 12-6 final to Louisiana Tech in 16 innings. The contest set a new FAU program record for longest game. The previous record was tied last May when the Owls defeated Charlotte in 15 innings, also, coincidentally, on senior day.
THE BEGINNING
A Mitchell Hartigan RBI double in the third inning tied the game before LA Tech took a 6-1 lead with runs in the fourth and fifth. After Brody Drost hit a three-run homer in the fifth, it would be another 11 innings before the Bulldogs scored again.
Meanwhile, the Owls chipped away at the deficit. Hartigan and John Schroeder drew bases loaded walks in the fifth. Spencer Rich drove in two with a single to left to make it 6-5. In the sixth, Armando Albert led off with his fifth home run of the season to tie it.
THE TURNING POINT
From the seventh inning on, it came down to missed opportunities for the Owls. They stranded the bases loaded in the seventh and ninth innings. They left two on in the 13th and 16th.
LA Tech missed its fair share of chances as well. They also failed to score with the bases loaded in the seventh and left two on in the 13th.
Finally in the top of the 16th, Tech started the frame with a single and a hit batter. On a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt, pitcher Jacob Josey’s throw to Christian Adams covering the first base bag could not be reeled in. A bases loaded walk followed breaking a deadlock that lasted nearly three hours. After that, it spiraled for the Owls. The Bulldogs would score five more in the inning with a sac fly, an RBI single, a two-RBI double, and another FAU error.
THE FINISH
The Owls put two on in the 16th but did not score. The longest game in program history ended with a six-run margin.
QUOTABLE
Head coach John McCormack
“First, have to give credit to LA Tech. They made all the pitches they needed to. That being said, on the scoreboard, it says we lost in the 16th inning… where we really lost this game though was in the eighth, 10th, 12th, 14th… we had plenty of opportunities up and down the lineup and just couldn’t get the hit.”
THE ARMS
- The Owls used seven pitchers starting with Tyler Murphy who lasted for three. Murphy set a new season-high with five strikeouts.
- Evan Waterbor followed for three inning and conceded three runs.
- Danny Trehey and Braden Ostrander contributed two-thirds of an inning each.
- Robert Wegielnik took over with one out in the eighth and pitched all the way through to the 13th.
- Wegielnik allowed just two hits and struck out a career-high five batters in 5.1 innings. His ERA shrunk to 1.59 for the season.
- Sam Drumheller held LTU scoreless in the 14th and 15th.
- Josey pitched one inning and took the loss. None of the runs he allowed were earned.
THE BATS
- The Owls left 23 men on base compared to 12 for LA Tech.
- Five Owls tied the single-game record for at-bats with eight.
- Albert and Goldstein were two of the five. Each finished 3-for-8.
- Nolan Schanuel was held to a 1-for-3 day with five walks (tying the single-game record) and a hit by pitch. All total, Schanuel reached base seven times in nine trips to the plate.
- He’s now reached base safely in 46 straight games.
- Schanuel has now walked 59 times this season, breaking the previous record of 57 held by Mike Messner since 1998.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Owls will have another chance to win the series on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
TICKETS
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