BOCA RATON, Fla. – (April 13, 2019) – The No. 24 Florida Atlantic University baseball team was shut out until the ninth, halved the deficit, but left the tying run at second in a 2-1 loss to Louisiana Tech Saturday night. That clinches the series for the Bulldogs with the finale set for noon on Sunday.
Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
“I thought it was a good college baseball game, Mike Ruff pitched really well, (Vince) Coletti did a nice job. In these type of games, you’ve got to make plays to get out of innings and they did that. A nice play up the middle, the rightfielder made a spectacular catch down here, and we weren’t able to do that.”
The Turning Point
The winning runs came all the way back in the second inning, when a long flyball to right dropped for a triple, allowing two Louisiana Tech (24-10, 10-4 Conference USA) runners to come across. The best scoring opportunity for FAU (23-11, 11-3 C-USA) came in the third, but with the bases loaded and two outs, Mason Robinson made a sliding catch in foul territory to retire the side.
The Finish
It was literally all zeroes on both sides until the ninth, when Andru Summerall hit a one-out solo shot to right to make it 2-1. Pedro Pages singled, and pinch-runner Richie Nizza got to second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout looking ended a chance at a tie and gave the Bulldogs the series.
The Arms
· Mike Ruff (4-1) took the tough-luck loss. In seven innings, he gave up just five hits and three walks, striking out nine
· With two scoreless innings was Vince Coletti, walking one and allowing a hit while striking out two
The Bats
· Pages had two of the team’s four hits, singles in the second and the ninth
· Summerall’s home run was his third of the year
· Eric Rivera had the other hit, another single that came all the way back in the third
What’s Next
The finale Sunday pits Jon Jon Kostantis against Louisiana Tech’s Logan Bailey, starting at noon. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
– 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 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.
