| BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team took both ends of Saturday’s home doubleheader over Marshall, setting up the possibility of a four-game Conference USA opening weekend sweep on Sunday. The Owls (13-9, 3-0 C-USA) fell behind in the fifth inning of game one, only to see Bobby Morgensen’s two-run home run in the bottom half key the comeback win. In the nightcap, the Thundering Herd (4-10, 0-3 C-USA) were ahead 6-0 and had a no-hitter going until two outs in the fifth, but two runs that inning, plus five more in the seventh – ending on a Jared DeSantolo full-count, two-out, two-run single – sent the Owls out of the dugout in a walkoff celebration. Quotable Head Coach John McCormack: “I’m just happy with the way the guys hung in there. The game did not start off the way we wanted it to after playing really well game one, we got down 6-0 and chipped away (as) their guy was throwing an absolute gem. But proud of our guys, just stuck around and had some really good at-bats strung together … and then Jared (DeSantolo) comes up with the big hit in the bottom of the seventh to walk it off. That’s a really, really shining moment for him.” Game One The Beginning The Owls had golden opportunities in the first and third, loading the bases in both with less than two outs, but only scraped across a run each time. Marshall took the lead with three in the fifth, but Mike Entenza was key in keeping it just a one-run deficit. The Turning Point In the bottom half, the first two Owl hitters were retired, but Nolan Schanuel drew a two-out walk. Then Morgensen turned on an offering and deposited it over the rightfield fence for the lead. The Finish The Owls tacked on insurance in the sixth on a Jackson Wenstrom RBI, and Braden Ostrander was unhittable in picking up his first career save. He struck out all three Herd hitters in the sixth – all swinging – and besides a HBP, set the visitors down in the seventh as well. The Arms –Dante Visconti threw four innings of five-hit, one-run baseball in his second start of the year -Entenza (2-1) earned the win, with two outs in the fifth -Ostrander struck out four of the six batters he retired to earn the save The Bats -Morgensen had an earlier RBI, to total three in the game -The home run was his fifth of the season -The other RBI, besides Wenstrom’s, was courtesy of Nolan Schanuel –Wilfredo Alvarez scored the Owls’ runs in both the first and second innings Game Two The Beginning Marshall’s starter, Raymond Pacella, silenced the Owls’ bats to start, with eight strikeouts in the first nine outs of the game, and the no-hitter through 4 2/3. Meanwhile, the Marshall bats scored twice each in the first, third and fourth for the 6-0 lead. The Turning Point In the home fifth, a two-out rally scored two Owl runs. Still, Pacella was dealing, recording his 10th strikeout in the sixth. But a walk to Wenstrom and double by Shane Magrann (only the second hit Pacella allowed) to start the bottom of the seventh chased him. The Finish One out later, Alvarez singled home one run, and after a hit-by-pitch of B.J. Murray, Schanuel cut it to one, at 6-5, with a two-run single to right. The Owls were down to their final out after another K, and to their final strike, as the count to DeSantolo went full. But after he fouled off one 3-2 pitch, he lined a clean single to right-center, scoring both Murray and Schanuel to walk it off for the home team. The Arms -In relief, Sam Drumheller struck out five batters in two innings of work -Then, fellow freshman Nicholas Del Prado (1-0) twirled two perfect innings to keep the Owls close enough for the come-from-behind win The Bats -Alvarez, Schanuel and DeSantolo each knocked in two runs -Magrann, in his first start as an Owl, was 2-for-3 with two runs scored -DeSantolo’s game-winner was FAU’s fifth pinch-hit of the year, and his first. It marked the first walkoff win for the Owls in 2021 What’s Next The finale between the two squads comes Sunday morning, beginning at 11:30 a.m. |
