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BOCA RATON – The season is still early, but Florida Atlantic picked up the kind of marquee win on Wednesday that could pay dividends in later in the season.
FAU used a four-run first inning to defeat perennial power Miami 5-4.
“It’s nice, especially because Miami kind of built college baseball for everybody,” FAU coach John McCormack said. “I know they have some young guys over there, and people look at this game as something more than I do. But it’s a win.”
The Owls started the game about as well as possible. Starting pitcher Nick Prather set the visiting Hurricanes down in order in the first.
Tyler Frank led of the bottom of the first with a line-drive double that landed inside the left field line. Frank scored the Owls first run on David Miranda’s single to center. Three more FAU runs followed, and the Owls could have done more damage.
With the bases loaded and two out in the first, Frank launched a bomb to left field that cleared the fence but hooked foul. Later in the at-bat he smacked a line drive to center that Tony Jenkins barely had to move to catch.
After scoring its first run in the second, Miami pulled within one on designated Michael Perez’s blast that cleared the scoreboard beyond the right field wall.
A Joe Montes sacrifice fly in the fourth inning drove in Frank with the Owls’ fifth and deciding run.
Trailing by only one run in the ninth, Miami put runners on first and second with two out before closer Zach Schneider induced a Dylan Cloonan line-out to second baseman Eric Rivera.
GameBrowser: FAU (7-1) 5, Miami (3-4) 4
Moving Forward: Tyler Frank seems to be over his early season funk. He notched two more hits and scored two runs. …Pedro Pages also enjoyed a two hit night and scored a run. …Relievers Weston Clemente, Drew Peden and Zach Schneider combined to hold Miami scoreless over the final three innings. …FAU coach John McCormack presented retiring Miami coach Jim Morris with an all-expense paid stay at the Boca Raton Hotel.
Sliding Backward: Andru Summerall when hitless in two at-bats, striking out both times. …Staked to a 4-0 lead, starter Nick Prather still couldn’t get beyond the fourth inning, allowing three runs on four hits.
Key Stat: 0 – Errors committed by FAU. The lone error of the game, committed by Miami, played a key role in the Owls’ four-run first.
Up Next: FAU heads to the west coast for a four-game series at Oregon. First pitch on Friday is schedueld for 9 p.m.
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