BOCA RATON, Fla. – After nearly 12 hours at the ballpark on Sunday, the Florida Atlantic University baseball team wrapped up the final home series of 2022 with a win and a loss against Charlotte. The second game of the series (which started on Saturday afternoon) ended with 10-9 final in favor of FAU in 15 innings while Charlotte won the finale 14-4 in seven innings.
FAU 10, Charlotte 9
THE BEGINNINGThe second game of the series began at 4:10 pm on Saturday afternoon and finished just over 24 hours later at 4:15 on Sunday.
The Owls jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning thanks to back-to-back homers from Dylan Goldstein and Jackson Ross. A grand slam in the top of the second from the Niners’ Brian McCabe then gave the visitors a lead.
McCabe would be the last batter until 11 am on Sunday. Storms rolled through South Florida on Saturday night halting play for the rest of the day.
THE TURNING POINTIt would be a back-and-forth affair when play resumed on Sunday morning. Charlotte eventually took a 9-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth. The Owls were down to their final strike when Mitchell Hartigan launched a game-tying three-run home run over the right field wall. Hartigan’s first of the season sent it to extra innings knotted at 9-9.
THE FINISHBoth offenses had opportunities in extra innings but neither side could capitalize. The deadlock persisted into the 15th inning. It was there that Owls got a leadoff walk from Gabriel Rincones, Jr. and a single from Nolan Schanuel bringing Goldstein to the plate. The sophomore only needed to hit the ball out of the infield, but did one better. A rocket off the wall in right brought Rincones home from third for a walk off winner.
THE ARMS
- The Owls used five pitchers culminating with Nicholas Del Prado who pitched the last 6.2
- Del Prado earned the win with just three hits and one run allowed. He struck out five and walked two
THE BATS
- Goldstein finished 3-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored
- Caleb Pendleton hit a solo HR in sixth
- Shane Magrann took over as a defensive replacement in the fourth inning and lined a two-RBI double that gave FAU a 6-5 lead in the seventh
- Schanuel singled three times and posted a 3-for-8 line. He tied the FAU single game record for at bats
QUICK HITS
- This was the first extra inning game of the season for the Owls
- The official duration was five hours and 55 minutes. From first pitch to last, 24 hours and five minutes of real time elapsed
Charlotte 14, FAU 4
THE BEGINNINGThe 49ers homered twice in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Owls came back with a two-RBI single up the middle by Magrann in the bottom half.
THE TURNING POINTUltimately, the Owls couldn’t match the Charlotte offense hit for hit but more specifically, they couldn’t match CLT’s Jake Cunningham. After homering in the first, Cunningham doubled in the third, homered again in the fifth, and tripled in the sixth. He would finish a single short of the cycle.
The Owls trimmed the deficit to 9-4 but with five runs in the top of the seventh, Charlotte was able to enact the run-rule.
THE BATS
- Magrann and Dom Presto combined for four of the Owls’ six hits
- Tyler Kelder had an RBI double in the sixth inning
THE ARMS
- The Owls used five pitchers with only Tyler Burnham completing more than two innings
QUICK HITS
- There was another one-hour lightning delay with one out in the bottom of the third inning
WHAT’S NEXTThe Owls will head to Huntington, West Virginia for the final regular season series against Marshall beginning Thursday at 3 pm.
TICKETSTo 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
