| 3/22/2025 | Baseball | Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic baseball dropped the middle game of its weekend series with Rice by a 3-1 final on Saturday afternoon at the FAU Baseball Stadium. FAU (18-5, 1-1 AAC) will have another chance to claim the series from the visiting Owls (5-18, 1-1 AAC) on Sunday afternoon when the sides meet for a noon first pitch. THE BEGINNING Florida Atlantic opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single by Nick Romano. After that, however, Rice starter J.D. McCracken buckled down to hold the FAU offense in check for six innings. THE TURNING POINT After Tyler Murphy held the visiting Owls scoreless for the first four innings, Rice cashed in with a two-RBI single by Hiram Bocachica in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. FAU had prime opportunities to respond in the sixth and eighth innings. Jake Duer singled, and Patrick Ward doubled with one out in the sixth, but a strikeout and a flyout ended the threat. In the eighth, Marshall Lipsey and Duer put together back-to-back base hits to start the inning. Again, though, the chance went awry after a pop-up, a flyout, and a strikeout. THE FINISH Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Florida Atlantic again put a runner on with one out, but he did not advance past first base as Rice held on to even the series. THE BATS Duer led the offense, finishing the day 3-for-3 with three singles – his 14th multi-hit game of the season. Lipsey’s single extended his reached-base streak to 21 games. THE ARMS Murphy (2-1) was saddled with the loss despite six strong innings. He tied his career-high with eight strikeouts. The junior allowed two runs on six hits and did not walk a batter. Zach Kilby was the first man out of the bullpen and allowed a run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning. After Kide Adetuyi walked the lone batter he faced, Steven Andrews entered as the third pitcher of the seventh inning. Andrews conceded two hits but escaped the frame without allowing a run. Carter Holjes pitched the eighth and ninth innings and struck out three. All 11 Rice hits were singles. QUOTABLE Head coach John McCormack “We were not good offensively. Give credit to them. They pitched well, but we didn’t do the simple things…move the guy over and drive him in. We have to regroup and be better tomorrow.” WHAT’S NEXT Florida Atlantic will look to bounce back and win the series in the finale on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon on ESPN+. |
