BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Owls’ bid to repeat Tuesday night’s late inning heroics fell short in Florida Atlantic University’s 20-13 loss to Michigan, on Wednesday night.
FAU, who pulled within one run at 14-13 after eight innings, gave up six runs in the top of the ninth falling to 6-4 on the season, while Michigan improved to 6-3. The Owls’ record versus Big X teams in 2022 moved to 4-2. FAU will now turn its attention towards Fordham and a three-game series scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday. All games will be played at FAU Stadium. March 4th is national wear blue day. Be True Blue and where your best FAU blue to Friday night’s game.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach John McCormack
“It was not a pleasant night,” said John McCormack, FAU’s head coach. “We preach it all the time. We can’t give up these big numbers. They score in four innings of a nine-inning game – a total of 20 runs. We walked or hit eight guys that scored. We have to be better. Some of these guys are getting an opportunity to play and pitch. We have to make sure that we are able to capitalize on it for them. We do have to try to continue to build this bullpen. Offensively, Shane [Magrann] had a nice night. We scored some runs, but they did a really good job, except for the six-run eighth of limiting us…Shane swung the bat really well both nights Dom [Presto] gets his first collegiate start and ends up with three hits, a couple runs scored, a walk and a hit by pitch. There were some superlatives in there but again overall all just not a good night.”
THE BEGINNING
The two teams began with a clean first. The second was a different story with nine of the game’s 33 runs being scored. Michigan held the lead until the Wolverines failed to score in the top of the third and allowed the Owls to score two in the bottom half. FAU would add an additional run in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead after four.
THE TURNING POINT
Prior to all the crooked numbers coming into play, the two teams were scoreless in the fifth and sixth. In the final three frames, a total of 21 runs were scored with Michigan accounting for 15 of those runs
THE FINISH
A snapshot of the numbers best explains the details of the game. The two teams combined for a total of 403 pitches, 30 hits, 33 runs and three errors. Twenty-one base runners were left on. There were 25 free passes when totaling walks and hit by pitches. Seven of the hits were for extra bases and that total includes two home runs, one of which was a grand slam. A total of 17 pitchers saw action and they combined for 20 strikeouts. And, all of that got accomplished in four hours and 21 minutes.
THE ARMS
- Six FAU pitchers received a full inning of work
- Marc DeGuispe carried the bulk of the load tossing three innings. He gave up two hits and struck out five
- Max Martzolf pitched just a third of an inning but was charged with the loss after facing five batters, allowing four runs on one hit, one walk, hitting two and striking out one
THE BATS
- Offensively, Magrann had a good series versus Michigan and a special night on Wednesday, going 5-of-6 at the plate with three runs scored and a double
- Presto was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Armando Albert and Jackson Ross rounded out the batters with multiple hits going 3-for-5 and 2-for-6, respectively
WHAT’S NEXT
The Owls will continue their long stretch, playing 12 games in 18 days, when Fordham comes to Paradise for a three-game series, starting at 6:30 on Friday. FAU is expected to throw Hunter Cooley on Friday and Tibur Rivero on Saturday. Sunday’s pitcher has yet to be determined. Honor national wear blue with your best FAU blue on Friday night.
FOR SEASON TICKETS
To purchase FAU tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or click HERE. Stay informed by reading FAUSports.com, or through the baseball’s Twitter and Instagram accounts @FAUBaseball.
