MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Fraysure
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BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Feb. 15, 2019) – Blake Sanderson combined with three relievers on a four-hit shutout, and Florida Atlantic University bats exploded for eight two-out runs in the third inning towards a 9-0 shutout win over Cincinnati in Friday night’s season opener at FAU Baseball Stadium.
Quotable
“Really good start, exactly what you need on a night like this,” said Head Coach John McCormack “I thought Blake Sanderson did exactly what we wanted him to do, (he) gave us zeroes. He had a little trouble there in the second but was able to get out of it. In the third, I thought the offense did a wonderful job, started by B.J. (Murray), a freshman. (It was) an amazing coming-out party for him.”
The Turning Point
As McCormack alluded to, Cincinnati (0-1) loaded the bases with just one out in the top of the second, on a walk and two singles. But Sanderson buckled down for a strikeout and inning-ending fielder’s choice to keep it scoreless. FAU (1-0) had been held hitless through two, but broke through in the home third. B.J. Murray walked, and Wilfredo Alvarez followed with a single. Two flyouts seemingly stalled the momentum, but Bobby Morgensen doubled into the leftfield corner to plate two; Joe Montes extended the inning by beating out an infield hit, scoring a run and making it 3-0; Andru Summerall doubled to almost exactly the same spot as Morgensen for two more; Jared DeSantolo singled up the middle for another; and Murray capped things off with a towering two-run home run to right for an 8-0 lead.
The Finish
Sanderson settled down after that. Those last two outs of the second inning were the first two of nine in a row retired, of what would become 11 out of 12, and finally, 14 of the last 16 batters he faced. Dylan Carter came on for a hitless seventh, Eric Keating pitched a perfect eighth, and Michael Schuler recorded a similarly flawless ninth. The Owls’ ninth run came in the eighth inning, when again with two outs, Gunnar Lambert tripled into the rightfield corner, and Pedro Pages brought him in with a line drive single to right-center.
The Arms
· Sanderson scattered four hits over six shutout innings, walking just one and striking out five
· Only one runner reached against the three relievers, on an error. Carter, Keating and Schuler combined to get the final nine batters of the game out to wrap the night
· All told, the four pitchers struck out seven, walked just one, and only needed 113 pitches total in the win (79 of which, 70 percent, went for strikes)
The Bats
· All nine FAU starters reached; eight of the nine had at least one hit
· Summerall notched his first career three-hit game, while in his Owls’ debut, Alvarez added two baseknocks
· Murray was on three times, with the home run and two walks
· Lambert’s triple extended his consecutive-game streak of reaching base to 31
Miscellaneous
· This was the Owls’ first shutout since March 11 of last year (10-0 over Seton Hall), and second straight year starting the season off with a shutout (3-0 over George Washington)
· Seven players made their FAU debuts: Morgensen, Murray, Alvarez, Carter, Schuler, Nicholas Toney and Francisco Urbaez
What’s Next
Game two against the Bearcats comes at 4 p.m. Saturday at FAU Baseball Stadium. Starting pitcher Ryan Sandberg will be another debuting Owl, facing off against UC’s Nathan Kroger.
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Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
