FAU Baseball Caps Off Season-Opening Sweep

BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Feb. 16­, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team battled both Delaware and rain for the third straight day, with the weather forcing early stoppage, but the Owls completed the sweep with an 8-2 rain-shortened win. This marks the sixth straight season FAU has started the season off with a sweep, and in all 12 years under head coach John McCormack, the Owls have won their Opening Weekend series.

Quotable

Head Coach John McCormack:

“Guys played great, gave up two (in the second), and then came back and really really swung the bats well. Corey (Ireson) settled down and had a nice outing and Dante Visconti was able to get in there for his first collegiate appearance, did well and got through it. But Cade Parker, wow. Gets his first start in centerfield, goes 3-for-3 with a double, home run and a single, couple RBI, good for him. Good job, way (for him) to come out of the gates swinging.”

Full Opening Statement from Coach Mac

https://www.youtube.com/embed/SgXJ7fUZ78s

The Turning Point

The Owls (3-0) scored in every inning, including taking a 2-0 lead in the first, with runs scoring on a sac fly and passed ball. UD (0-3) did tie it with two of their own in the top of the second, but an Alex Arauz home run gave FAU the lead to stay.

The Finish

As mentioned, FAU continued scoring, with one more in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth before the rain caused a literal finish. The one in the fifth was a leadoff blast by true freshman Cade Parker, capping off a 3-for-3 day at the plate for him and recording the third homer of the day for the Owls (along with Andru Summerall’s two-run blast in the fourth).

The Arms

·         Corey Ireson (1-0) gave up the two second-inning Blue Hen runs, but allowed only one baserunner in his other three frames

·         His final line was four innings, three hits, two runs, two walks and four strikeouts

·         Another true freshman, Dante Visconti, hurled a scoreless fifth

The Bats

·         The Owls’ seven-eight-nine hitters combined for six of the team’s 10 hits, knocked in three and scored four runs

·         Parker was 3-for-3, and like BJ Murray on Friday, was just a triple short of the cycle. He knocked in two and scored twice

·         Tucker Mitchell notched his first collegiate hit as well and scored a run in the seven-hole

·         Arauz went 2-for-3 hitting between the two

·         Both Bobby Morgensen and Summerall each had two RBI

·         All but one Owl reached base, and the team as a whole now has reached in all 21 innings at the  plate this season

What’s Next

FAU will host Florida Gulf Coast for a Tuesday night, 6:30 p.m. matchup. Following that is the completion of the team’s season-opening seven-game homestand, with three next weekend at FAU Baseball Stadium against Binghamton.

– FAUSports.com –

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 4-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 52-28 victory over SMU in the 2019 Cheribundi 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, visitwww.fau.edu.