BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University baseball team opened Conference USA play on Friday night with a narrow 9-7 loss to Southern Miss. The Owls rallied for a dramatic comeback in the top of the ninth but ultimately were edged out by a Golden Eagles walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame.
QUOTABLEHead CoachJohn McCormack
“I am proud of the guys. We kept fighting all the way to the top of ninth. We had 12 hits and scored seven runs off a really good staff. We just need to clean up the big innings and we’ll be fine.”
THE BEGINNINGFor the seventh consecutive game, the Owls opened the scoring in the first inning. Armando Albert drew a leadoff walk and, after advancing on a wild pitch, scored on a single by Gabriel Rincones, Jr. He would later score on a hit by Steven Loden for a 2-0 FAU lead. Nolan Schanuel’s fifth home run of the season in the top of the third made it a three-run lead.
THE TURNING POINTSouthern Miss. battled back and took the lead with a crooked number in the bottom of the third. Five hits, an Owls’ error, and a hit batter totaled up to a 5-3 Golden Eagles lead.
The Owls tied it on a Tyler Kelder two-RBI double in the sixth but again fell behind by two in the bottom of the seventh. They were down to their final strike in the ninth before three consecutive hits tied the game. After a Jalen DeBose infield single, Shane Magrann pinch hit and ripped an RBI double into the right field corner. Dom Presto entered as a pinch runner and would come around to score on a clutch double by Rincones, Jr. to tie it at 7-7.
THE FINISHUSM got a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth by Christopher Sargent and two batters later, Danny Lynch took Dante Visconti deep over the right field fence for a walk off two-run homer.
THE ARMS
- Hunter Cooley made the start and went six innings with four earned runs allowed. He struck out four but also hit four batters
- Sam Drumheller and Visconti combined for 2.1 innings in relief
THE BATS
- Schanuel homered for the third straight game, bringing his season total to five
- Rincones, Jr. singled and doubled bringing his hitting streak to 14 games. He also drove in his team-leading 29th and 30th runs of the season
- Rincones and Schanuel both extended their on-base streaks to 19 games
- Loden finished 2-4 with two singles and a run scored
WHAT’S NEXTThe series continues Saturday afternoon with a 3 pm (EST) first pitch for game two. Sunday’s finale will get underway at 11:30 am (EST).
FOR SEASON 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.
