[the_ad_group id=”632″]
BOCA RATON – It wasn’t pretty, but FAU came back from a four-run deficit to defeat Charlotte 6-5 on Sunday, completing a weekend sweep of the 49ers.
Cody Wilson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Owls the lead and Mark Nowatnick pitched out of a jam in the ninth.
“The best thing I can say is we won,” coach John McCormack said. “That was an ugly Sunday game.”
With a start time moved from noon to 10 a.m. because of expected inclement weather, Sunday’s game was filled with errors, dropped baseballs, and a few hit batters.
FAU and Charlotte combined to commit eight errors, five by the 49ers.
The 49ers got going early with back to back RBI singles in the top of the first. They then tacked on another run in the top of the second inning thanks in part to a Joe Montes throwing error.
FAU was able to score a run on a throwing error by the 49ers in the bottom of the second, one of their five errors committed throughout the game.
Diamond Johnson doubled to right field allowing a runner to score, and another run came in on a throwing error by the right fielder who attempted to throw out Johnson at second base. The throwing error allowed another run to come in.
Mark Nowatnick struck out Todd Elwood with runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Owls their ninth conference win of the season.
“This time of year, 32 games in, it’s about just getting the win and moving on,” McCormack said.
GameBrowser: FAU (24-8, 9-3) 6, Charlotte (15-16, 5-7) 5
Moving Forward: Joe Montes went 2 for 5 with a RBI single. …Mark Nowatnick didn’t allow a run in three innings, striking out three to earn the win. …Tyler Frank went 2-for-4 and made a leaping catch.
Sliding Backward: Mike Ruff pitched three innings, giving up four hits and three runs. Only one of the runs was earned. …After hitting a walk off home run Saturday night, Eric Rivera went 0-for-5 with a strikeout in the cleanup spot.
Key Stat: 7 – times FAU’s opponent scored in the first inning. FAU won all seven of those games.
Instant Message: “I was desperate for us to get off to a good start, and we didn’t.” – McCormack
Up Next: FAU heads to Estero to face FGCU on Tuesday.
Leave a Reply