FAU Baseball Upended by Ninth Illinois Comeback

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - (Feb. 22, 2019) - Leading 6-3, the Florida Atlantic University baseball team suffered an improbable loss as Illinois scored four times in their last at-bat to take Friday’s opening game of the series, 7-6.

Quotable

“That’s why closing is the toughest job in baseball, the last three outs are the most important three outs,” said Head Coach John McCormack. “I feel terrible for these guys that we ended up losing that game. They played great tonight, I was so proud of them. Great at-bats, good pitching, really good defense, some really really good things went on. We just couldn’t close the door.”

The Turning Point

Illinois (4-0) got on the board first, but four straight FAU (3-2) runs, and five of the next six, pushed the home advantage to 6-3. The Illini hadn’t scored since the fourth, but put two on with one out in the ninth.

The Finish

On a 3-1 pitch, Jeff Korte turned on a pitch and pushed it over the rightfield fence for the tie. Still, a strikeout had it down to two outs with no one on, but back-to-back singles and a intentional walk loaded the bases, and another walk forced in the go-ahead run. Owl bats in the bottom half went down 1-2-3 to end any chance of a comeback.

The Arms

  • Blake Sanderson pitched six innings for the second straight Friday, turning in a quality start (three runs on six hits), with one walk and six strikeouts, one off his career high.
  • He gave way to Vince Colette, who was perfect in two frames with four K’s and needing just 27 pitches.
  • Zach Schneider (1-1) took the loss.

The Bats

  • Pedro Pages had his first multi-hit game of the young season, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
  • Gunnar Lambert notched his second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth.
  • He has reached base in all five games this year, combined with the final 20 of 2018
  • Also with multiple hits, two apiece, were Eric Rivera and Andre Summerall; each also had an RBI, and Rivera scored on Lambert’s homer
  • Francisco Urbaez had his first FAU extra base hit, a double, and was knocked in by Wilfredo Alvarez for the team’s first run.

Miscellaneous

  • Four of the team’s six runs came with two outs
  • Eight of the nine FAU batters had a hit towards their 12, a season high
  • That’s the third time reaching double digits in hits this year, and the team has recorded at least eight in every game

What’s Next

Game two versus the Illini will feature the pitching matchup of Ryan Sandberg against Andy Fisher, and commence at 4 p.m. Saturday. Buy tickets by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by visiting baseball’s ticket website.

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.