| BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University baseball defeated Marshall on Sunday afternoon, 11-2, to wrap up a sweep of the Thundering Herd on the opening weekend of Conference USA play. Quotable Head Coach John McCormack: “It’s never easy to win four games in a row. Statistically, baseball is not set up that way. Javi (Rivera) gave us what we needed, a really, really good start. We had a great bottom of five there, with two outs … really, really good stuff, good baserunning, (and) relief pitching. (Thomas) Haggerty did what he was supposed to do. He settled down, (Brock) Helverson was good, Jack (Stroud) was good, we were able to get some offense going. It was a good day.” The Beginning After his walkoff game-winner yesterday, Jared DeSantolo notched the first two FAU (14-9, 4-0 C-USA) RBI Sunday, a solo home run in the third and doubling in Mitchell Hartigan to key a four-run fifth. On the other side, starting pitcher Javi Rivera threw up five zeroes and allowed just three hits over that span. The Turning Point In the fifth, after DeSantolo’s RBI double, the Owls had just a runner at first and two outs, but after a steal of second by Jackson Wenstrom and walk to Wilfredo Alvarez, three straight two-out singles – by B.J. Murray, Nolan Schanuel and Bobby Morgensen – extended the lead to 5-0. The Finish Still, Marshall (4-11, 0-4 C-USA) was in shouting distance with two in the sixth, and had the bases loaded, but Thomas Haggerty came through with a key strikeout of Marshall’s leadoff hitter to keep it at 5-2. Then the Owl bats came through with five more in the home half, the last three courtesy of Schanuel’s sixth homer of the season. The Arms Rivera (2-0) had his second straight effective start, scattering five hits and allowing two runs in 5 2/3. He struck out fiveHaggerty, Brock Helverson and Jack Stroud combined to retire the last nine Herd batters in order, with three scoreless framesHelverson’s 1-2-3 eighth included a strikeout; Stroud struck out two in a perfect ninth The Bats Schanuel knocked in four runs as part of a 2-for-3 dayAlso chipping in with two hits each were DeSantolo, Murray and MorgensenMurray scored three times, while Alvarez, Hartigan and DeSantolo all came across twice What’s Next The Owls have a makeup contest Tuesday night on the road, at Florida Gulf Coast, before their first road C-USA series of the season, Friday through Sunday at Charlotte. The next weekend, April 9-11, is the return home, hosting Old Dominion. Tickets are, as of now, still available by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU’s baseball tickets website. Though, all 15 FAU home games to this point have reached capacity. |
