GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University baseball lost an 18-11 slugfest with No. 6 Florida on Tuesday night. The teams combined for 25 hits and eight home runs. Nolan Schanuel homered three times for the Owls.
THE BEGINNING
Schanuel got his big night started early in the top of the first. He sent the second pitch he saw into the right field bullpen for a solo shot.
Florida responded in the home half with a pair of three-run homers against FAU starter Evan Waterbor. The Gators had a runner on second with one out in the bottom of the second when thunder rumbled in the distance prompting a 41-minute weather delay. When play resumed, Waterbor escaped the jam without issue.
The offense went back to work after that. Schanuel teed off for his second HR of the night – this one a 3-run moonshot to straightaway center– to make it a 6-4 UF lead.
THE TURNING POINT
The Owls took the lead in the fourth after RBI hits from Jalen DeBose, Dylan Goldstein, and Jackson Ross. Armando Albert and Christian Adams also drove in runs on fielders’ choice plays. It was 9-7 FAU entering the bottom of the fourth.
In the ensuing frame, the Gators would take the lead for good though they did it without a hit. Two errors, two walks, and two hit by pitches led to three runs. They would tack on another three in the fifth when shortstop Josh Rivera hit his second three-run HR of the night.
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THE FINISH
Schanuel hit his third home run of the night in the sixth to make it 13-10. After Sam Drumheller held Florida scoreless in the sixth and seventh, the Gators broke it open with five runs in the eighth. Jackson Ross homered in the ninth but the final outcome was unaffected.
QUOTABLE
Head coach John McCormack
“Tough loss tonight. We obviously have to pitch better and make plays to get us out of innings. We gave a good team too many opportunities.”
THE ARMS
- Drumheller and Braden Ostrander were the only two (out of six) FAU pitchers to not allow a run.
- The FAU staff combined to walk 10 batters and hit six more.
THE BATS
- Schanuel finished 3-for-4 and accounted for five of the Owls’ 11 runs batted in. He’s now up to six home runs, 19 RBI, and a .432 average through 12 games.
- The Boynton Beach native becomes the fifth player in program history to have a three-HR game. Gabriel Rincones, Jr. was the last to do it on April 30 of last season.
- Ross hit his fifth home run of the season and finished 4-for-5.
- Aside from the four home runs, the Owls remaining 10 hits were all singles.
- UF’s Josh Rivera homered twice and totaled nine RBI.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Owls and Gators will run it back one more time for game two on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
