HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team used a total team effort on Sunday afternoon to earn a 7-3 victory over Southern Miss. The Owls received 14 hits from the offense plus six solid innings of relief work from Jacob Josey to move to 1-2 in Conference USA play and to 14-7 overall.
QUOTABLE“In this type of situation, you feel like you should’ve at least won one game this weekend, maybe two,” noted Head Coach John McCormack. “It would’ve been easy to feel sorry for yourself, but I thought the guys played great [today]. Jacob Josey was spectacular out of the bullpen. We’ve been waiting for that all year. I am really proud of the guys. They did a great job today.”
THE BEGINNINGSunday’s series finale was shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel through seven innings. After Tyler Burnham made the start for the Owls, Jacob Josey came on in relief in the third inning. The graduate senior allowed a solo home run to lead off the fourth but was otherwise dominant over the course of the next five frames. Southern Miss. starter Hurston Waldrep was equally as impressive racking up 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. FAU trailed 2-1 after seven.
THE TURNING POINTThe Owls finally broke through on the Golden Eagles’ bullpen in the top of the eighth. Dylan Goldstein got the rally started with a leadoff double. Gabriel Rincones, Jr. followed with a single to score Goldstein to tie the game at 2-2. After the red-hot Nolan Schanuel notched his fourth single in as many at-bats, Steven Loden stepped in and ripped a line drive that just barely got over the outstretched glove of the Southern Miss. second baseman. Rincones scored from second to give FAU its first lead of the day. Caleb Pendleton, Shane Magrann, and Armando Albert kept the line moving with three more run-scoring hits. The Owls would eventually send 10 men to the plate accounting for five runs on seven hits in the inning.
THE FINISHFAU added another insurance run in the ninth and then sent Josey back out to the mound to get the final three outs.
THE ARMS
- Josey racked up 6.1 innings with five hits and two earned runs allowed. He totaled 105 pitches to earn his second win of the season
- Burnham gave up one run on one hit in his 2.2 innings
THE BATS
- Though his streak of four consecutive games with a home run came to an end, it was still another banner day for Schanuel. He finished 4-4 with two runs scored and now has multiple hits in each of the last seven games. The sophomore is hitting .456 in 21 games this season
- Rincones, posted a 2-for-5 day and extended his hitting streak to 14 games
- Steven Loden and Armando Albert each finished 2-for-4 at the plate
- The Owls recorded double-digit hits as a team for the 16th time this season
WHAT’S NEXTThe Owls will take a brief step away from C-USA play for a midweek showdown against Miami. First pitch on Wednesday at the FAU Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
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