BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University’s baseball team rode the arm of left-handed senior Hunter Cooley and the bat of sophomore centerfielder Jalen DeBose to an 8-2 win over Minnesota on Saturday evening.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach John McCormack on Jalen DeBose
“He has been a real spark,” said John McCormack, FAU’s head coach. “It was one of those things where it really came down to the wire – if he was going to be in the starting lineup on Friday. I felt because of his defense, let’s give him a shot. This is no secret, he didn’t have a great preseason offensively. Then sure enough, he has come out and had a really good series, keeping it simple, getting good pitches to hit and running the bases well. I’m very happy for him and very proud of him.”
On Hunter Cooley’s performance especially with the delay
“Hunter Cooley is the veteran, crafty lefty that you could have had him sit here for two hours and he still would have been fine. He didn’t want to come out of the game. Sam Drumheller did a great job [coming into the game for relief] and then we were able to score a few extra runs and to get Robert [Wegielnik] his first action.”
THE BEGINNING
It was a clean first with both pitchers working into their game’s rhythm. FAU’s Dylan Goldstein was hit by a pitch and awarded first in the second. With two outs, DeBose hit a double over the head off Minnesota’s centerfielder, scoring Goldstein.
THE TURNING POINT
The score remained 1-0 in FAU’s favor through a 35-minute fourth inning rain delay. Cooley would return, Minnesota’s starter would not, giving way to Sam Malec, who gave up three hits and four earned runs all in the bottom of the fourth. Three of the four runs were off a bases-clearing double down the leftfield line by DeBose. Combining Friday and Saturday, DeBose recorded the first five FAU RBIs of 2022. He had a total of six in all of 2021.
After the rain delay, the Owls would outscore Minnesota 7-2. FAU shortstop Armando Albert singled to right, in the eighth scoring Goldstein for the third time in the game. Transfer Gabriel Rincones, Jr. put the exclamation point on the night with a towering homer over the right/center wall to score the final two.
THE FINISH
Cooley was not the only FAU pitcher to turn in a great game. He was relieved in the seventh by Sam Drumheller, who retired his first two batters on two pitches. Goldstein faced the minimum in 1.1 innings of work. Robert Wegielnik pitched the final inning. He was charged with two hits, no runs and struck out two.
THE ARMS
- Cooley picked up his first win of 2022 and his 14th career FAU win. He was inches away from a called third strike that would have preserved a seven-inning shutout, but instead he has two earned runs charged to his line
- Drumheller got the final out of the seventh and the Owls through the eighth unscathed
- Wegilnik faced five ninth inning batters and had two strike outs
THE BATS
- DeBose and Rincones were the two Owls with multiple hits
- DeBose had two doubles and four RBI
- Rincones recorded the season’s first homer
- Goldstein scored three runs and when combined with Friday night, he has four of the team’s nine runs and he is getting on base in 62% of his plate appearances while holding a .400 batting average
WHAT’S NEXT
The two teams will continue the series on Sunday and Monday. Game times are set for noon and 6:30 p.m., respectively. FAU will play its first road game of the year, when the Owls travel to Coral Gables for a 6 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Feb. 23rd.
FOR SEASON TICKETS
To purchase FAU tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or click HERE. FAU will open the 2022 season at home on Friday, Feb. 18 versus Minnesota. Stay tuned here at FAUSports.com, and on baseball’s Twitter and Instagram accounts @FAUBaseball.
