FAU Baseball Falls for First Time in C-USA Play

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Florida Atlantic University baseball suffered its first loss in Conference USA play despite leading three times by two runs, with a five-run Charlotte fourth the difference in an eventual 9-5 loss to the 49ers on Friday night.

Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
“We were able to get off to a really good start, scoring five runs in the first four innings, but we were just shut down after that. Credit to them, credit to their pitcher (Bryce McGowan), he made some adjustments and we were unable to adjust back. We ended up on the wrong side of it, but there’s a lot of baseball left in the weekend.”

The Beginning
The Owls (15-10, 4-1 C-USA) led 2-0 after their first at-bat (a Nolan Schanuel RBI double and B.J. Murray run-scoring single), and Murray’s solo shot in the third pushed it to a 3-1 edge. Though the 49ers (15-9, 4-1 C-USA) equalized in the third, two more Owl runs in the fourth made it 5-3.

The Turning Point
In the home half of the fourth, Charlotte scored five for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Finish
Despite scoring about as many runs off of McGowan as he’d allowed all season coming in, he used double plays in the fifth and sixth to complete his outing with two scoreless, and Jackson Boss did not allow a hit in three innings of relief.

The Arms

  • Hunter Cooley (4-2) saw his scoreless streak of 14 2/3 innings come to a close in the first, and took the loss
  • On his birthday, Sam Drumheller had his longest outing as an Owl, allowing just a hit and a run in 3 1/3. He struck out two
  • Jack Stroud threw a scoreless ninth, with a leadoff single erased on a caught stealing by Nicholas Toney for the third out

The Bats

  • Murray hit his fifth home run of the season, and knocked in two, as did Schanuel
  • Hartigan and Murray had two-hit nights, and Murray reached a third time on a walk, while Hartigan did the same via a HBP
  • The Owls were hit by five pitches
  • Schanuel reached base for the 14th straight game, and extended his hitting streak to five in a row; Wilfredo Alvarez now has an eight-game hitting streak, and Hartigan has been on base for 10 consecutive games

What’s Next
Next is a doubleheader against the 49ers, starting at 1 p.m., from Hayes Stadium. Both games are scheduled for seven innings on Saturday.