BOCA RATON, Fla. – (April 30, 2019) – A five-run second sprung Florida Atlantic University baseball out to a 7-1 lead, and four runs late sealed it, as the Owls topped Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night at home, 11-5.
Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
“Very nice Tuesday night win. Coming off exams, we had some guys leave during the game for an exam, we have some guys that have an exam tomorrow, so I think it was a really nice win with a lot of moving parts going on … (Hunter) Cooley, that was his best performance of the year, well-needed. We did what we were supposed to do early, scored seven runs, got out in front. (We) held the lead, and we were able to tack on a few at the end.”
The Turning Point
Though FGCU (30-15) took the lead in their first at-bat, on a two-out double, the Owls (30-14) leapt ahead to stay in the bottom half. Also with two down, Joe Montes laced a single the opposite way to score two, and FAU added five more in the second (on just one hit, ironically another Montes single with two down). The other three runs came in on two bases-loaded walks, and an error on the backend of the Montes hit.
The Finish
Hunter Cooley pitched into the sixth, and had only given up one run before the Eagles got to him for three with two outs in his final frame. Vince Coletti got the next batter out, and pitched two more scoreless, while the offense added insurance with one in the sixth (a Bobby Morgensen RBI single), one in the seventh (an Eric Rivera RBI single), and a two-run Morgensen shot in the eighth that bounced off the top of the rightfield scoreboard.
The Arms
· Cooley (4-3) went a career-long 5 2/3 and matched his best with four strikeouts. He had allowed just a run on five hits before the last two reached against him
· Coletti’s 2 1/3 scoreless was on two hits with two strikeouts
· Dylan O’Connell pitched the ninth, allowing an unearned run, but striking out the side
The Bats
· Montes’ four RBI is a new FAU career high; Morgensen’s four is one off his, set last week
· The two combined to go 4-for-9 (of the Owls’ seven hits) with those eight RBI (of 10)
· Leadoff batter Eric Rivera reached four times, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a HBP, and scoring three runs
· Pedro Pages became the first Owl this season to draw four walks in a game, and he scored twice
· FAU hitters took nine walks and had three batters hit with a pitch; eight of the nine Owl starters reached base
· All but the two runs scoring on Morgensen’s sixth home run came with two outs (additionally, all five FGCU runs did as well)
· Consecutive game streaks reaching base were extended by Pages (25), Rivera (20) and Morgensen (18). Morgensen’s two hits moves him to a nine-game hitting streak
What’s Next
The Owls embark on an eight-game, 10-day road trip with the first of eight this Friday night at Conference USA-leading Southern Miss. The next home game comes on May 14, against UCF. Tickets are available 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.
