Ambushed

FAU’s four-game winning streak ended Wednesday night, with a 7-5 loss to rival Miami in Coral Gables.

Miami scored early and often against FAU pitching. After the second inning, the Hurricanes already had a 6-0 lead and were headed for the victory.

FAU starter Sean Lasban was dreadful, being forced out of the game after only one inning and 27 pitches – 17 of which went for balls. Nick Swan wasn’t much better, allowing three runs in one inning after relieving Lasban.

“We have got to play better in the early innings, to give up back-to-back three-spots is never a good way to start a game,” FAU coach John McCormack said. “We settled down and played solid the last seven innings; it was just too little, too late.”

Down 7-1 in the ninth inning, FAU rallied for four runs thanks to two-run home runs from Eric Rivera and David Miranda, but Stephen Kerr grounded out to second to end the ballgame.

For Miami, the victory was the second of the season over FAU. The Hurricanes came into Boca Raton and beat the Owls 5-2 on March 1.

GameBrowser: Miami (10-11) 7, FAU (14-6-1) 5

Moving Forward: Blake Sanderson threw three innings of one-hit ball in relief… Miranda drove in the Owls’ other run with an RBI double to score Pedro Pages in the fifth inning… Jordan Poore pitched a scoreless eighth and threw 11 of his 13 pitches for strikes.

Sliding Backwards: Tyler Frank was 0-5…. Esteban Puerta, who had homered in his past two games, was 0-4… Kevin Abraham struck out in all three of his at-bats… FAU, normally extremely patient at the plate, had only four walks on Wednesday compared to nine strikeouts.

Key Stat: 0 – hits from Frank, Puerta, and Kerr. When they’re quiet, FAU’s offense can’t do too much at the plate.

Up Next: FAU will finally leave the state of Florida and travel to UAB for a Conference USA series. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 7:30 p.m.