BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team now trail in the weekend set to No. 19 Southern Miss, after the Golden Eagles took both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader.
The Golden Eagles (35-16, 22-8 Conference USA) led the whole way in taking a 6-1 win in the first matchup; to cap the day, a first-inning 4-0 Owls’ (28-23, 17-14 C-USA) lead was erased in the fourth, and a close game got broken up in the sixth in a 14-8 decision.
Quotable
Head Coach John McCormack:
“In game one, we had some opportunities, but you have to give credit to (Walker Powell). He’s a veteran, he pitched fantastic. We’ve got to be able to do more, but he pitched fantastic.
“Game two was a disaster, we give up a three-spot, a five-spot and a six-spot. This feels like March, when we couldn’t get ourselves out of innings. We can’t keep it to a two- or even three-spot to give ourselves a chance. The offense was pretty good, we did leave some runners on base, but overall pretty good. We’ll be back at it again tomorrow.”
Game One
The Beginning
Two home runs gave USM a 3-0 lead in the third. The Owls got one back in the bottom half, when Jalen DeBose doubled off the centerfield fence with two outs, and Wilfredo Alvarez singled him in, but the Golden Eagles answered with a solo shot in their ensuing turn, to again gain a three-run edge.
The Turning Point
Walker Powell hadn’t given up a hit before DeBose and Alvarez back-to-back, and in the fifth, the Owls put the first two on, on singles by Bobby Morgensen and Mitchell Hartigan. But a strikeout, fielder’s choice and groundout kept it USM 4, FAU 1.
The Finish
USM added two in the seventh, and the only other runner to reach against Powell in his complete-game effort was Morgensen, doubling in the Owls’ last at-bat.
The Arms
- Matt Sparling (2-5) took the loss
- Sam Drumheller, after a walk to the first batter he faced, retired the next seven in a row, and eight of nine, before USM got to him for two in the seventh
The Bats
- Morgensen had two of the team’s five hits
- DeBose’s fourth double of the year led to him scoring his eighth run, on Alvarez’s 20th RBI
Game Two
The Beginning
The Owls came out swinging, with two two-run homers in the first among the first four batters. Alvarez drew a walk and B.J. Murray snuck a laser shot inside the rightfield foul pole. Then after a Nolan Schanuel single, Steven Loden homered on top of the Owls’ batting cages in right, for a 4-0 lead.
The Turning Point
USM scored three in the second, and took the lead for good with five in the fourth. But FAU clawed back: Schanuel plated two with a double in the home fourth, and Hartigan’s solo shot leading off the fifth made it 8-7. Later in that same frame, the Owls had runners at first and second, but a strikeout ended the inning to keep it a one-run game.
The Finish
The Golden Eagles began the sixth with a solo homer, and then saw the next two batters strike out. But they recovered and really put the game away, with the next seven batters reaching and five scoring to double the advantage. Morgensen and Hartigan had back-to-back doubles to score one in the sixth, but the Owls went down in order in the seventh to end the game.
The Arms
- Adrien Reese (2-1) took the loss, despite his outing starting off smoothly, with a double play to end a threat in the second, and a walk but nothing else in the third. An error began USM’s fourth-inning rally, with a home run chasing him
- Brycen Allen, on his Senior Day, stopped the bleeding in the sixth with a groundout to the only batter he faced
- Following Allen, and making his FAU debut was a fellow senior, Jackson Vescelus. He pitched a scoreless seventh, including a strikeout
The Bats
- Schanuel, Loden and Hartigan all had two-hit games; Murray, Loden and Hartigan all drove in two
- Alvarez and Murray both scored twice
- Morgensen’s sixth-inning double extended his hitting streak to seven games
- All nine Owls’ starters reached base, on nine hits and seven walks
What’s Next
The Sunday finale begins at noon from FAU Baseball Stadium, the final home game of the year for the Owls. Tickets can be had by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or by logging on to FAU’s baseball tickets website.
