HATTIESBURG, Miss. – (May 5, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team twice trailed by four before tying it in the eighth on Sunday afternoon. Though Southern Miss scored in the bottom of the ninth to win, 8-7, the Owls still won the series in a hostile environment in Hattiesburg.
Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
“What a hard fought game, our guys just kept charging. It is a shame we came out on the wrong end of it. I am very proud of the way our guys competed and played this weekend.”
The Turning Point
Down 6-2 after a four-run USM (31-15, 18-6 C-USA) fifth, and 7-3 when both teams scored once an inning later, FAU (32-15, 17-7 C-USA) then plated four unanswered to knot things up. The first came on a sacrifice fly in the seventh by Bobby Morgensen, and the Owls pushed three across in the eighth after loading the bases with none out. A bases loaded walk to Wilfredo Alvarez, his third RBI of the night, was followed by another sac fly by Andru Summerall, to draw the team within one. With two down, Joe Montes lined a double off the leftfield fence for a 7-7 tie.
The Finish
The Owls loaded them again with two outs, but a flyout kept it tied. From there, it was back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, by Zach Schneider in the home eighth and Hunter Stanley in the top of the ninth. The bottom half saw the first two retired, but the Golden Eagles got a two-out double, an intentional walk, and a hard-hit ball that ricocheted off of Montes and into leftfield to score the game-winner.
The Arms
· When he was relieved with two outs in the fifth, starter Jacob Josey had only allowed two runs, one earned. Unfortunately, two more that were his responsibility came in in that frame as well
· Michael Schuler was tremendous through three separate innings. He stranded two by retiring the only batter he faced in the fifth, and in the next two frames, allowed just one hit, a solo home run
· Schneider (3-2) retired the first five he faced before suffering the loss
The Bats
· Alvarez’s three RBI is his most as an Owl. He was 2-for-2 Sunday, along with a walk and sac fly
· Montes added two hits as well, and had the team’s only extra base hit of the day
· Mitch Hartigan reached three times, with a hit and two walks, and batted .727 against USM pitching (8-for-11) with a .786 OBP
· Summerall finished the weekend batting .538 after his 1-for-3 day, and notched his ninth RBI of the three-game set
· Pedro Pages extended a streak of games reaching base to 28 and Morgensen is out to 21 in a row; Eric Rivera’s run of 22 straight was snapped Sunday
What’s Next
Two midweek games in Texas are next, Tuesday at Sam Houston State and Wednesday at Houston, both 7:30 p.m. Eastern starts. After three next weekend at UTSA, the Owls return home next on May 14 to host UCF. Get tickets 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.
