BOCA RATON, Fla. – A strong outing by senior co-captain Hunter Cooley and a timely fifth inning rally gave Florida Atlantic University an 8-3 win over Delaware on Saturday afternoon. The victory moved FAU to 4-3 on the season and dropped UD to 2-3. The two teams will close out the three-game series with a Sunday game at noon.
QuotableHead Coach John McCormack on the game
“Hunter Cooley rescued us again. He is amazing,” said John McCormack, FAU’s head coach. “You talk about courage. You talk about resiliency. You talk about toughness. He embodies all of it. He was fantastic.”
“I thought offensively, we were just okay today. We had a sixth-run fifth. We had gotten a run here or there, but in the fifth we did what we were supposed to do. We took a walk. We put a ball in play, and they made an error. We ran the bases really well, but the concern is we can’t seem to repeat that. I’m glad we won, but we have to get better in all phases of the game.”
THE BEGINNINGSophomore first baseman Nolan Schanuel was awarded first on a two-out hit by pitch. He moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a Jackson Ross RBI single. It was the first 2022 RBI for Ross. Delaware would tie the score in the top of the second. FAU retook the lead in the bottom of the second when shortstop Armando Albert hit a two-out single down the leftfield line to score Nicholas Tony, who had reached base on an infield single and advanced to third on a Jalen DeBose single.
THE TURNING POINTCooley held the Blue Hens to just one run over the next five innings of work, while the Owls mounted an 8-3 lead. Cooley picked up his second win in as many outings.
THE FINISHThe Owls scored six runs on just two hits in the fifth. The big inning included no-extra base hits, but instead, was back-to-back walks. A sacrifice bunt, which Delaware committed an error to load the bases. FAU’s Tyler Kelder singled off a new UD pitcher to score the first run of the inning. Pinch hitter Dylan Goldstein walked to drive in another run, Toney’s walk plated another, Jalen DeBose reached on a fielder’s choice to score in the fifth run of the inning and the final run was driven in by a Gabriel Rincones, Jr. single up the middle.
THE ARMS
- Cooley drew the start and worked through the seventh. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, struck out four and walked one to improve his record to 2-0 on the season
- The final two innings of scoreless baseball were thrown by Robert Wegielnik, who gave up two hits, struck out three and issued no free passes
THE BATS
- Rincones was the Owls’ lone multiple-hit batter, 2-for-4, with an RBI
- Schanuel was 1-for-2 with two runs scored
- Albert, the Owls’ leadoff hitter, was 1-for-5 with a team-leading two RBI
- Albert and DeBose each stole a base
WHAT’S NEXTThe three-game series will conclude on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for noon.
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