BOCA RATON – FAU’s bats remained hot on Wednesday night, providing the Owls with another double-digit scoring night in an 11-3 victory over Maine.
The middle of FAU’s lineup did much of the damage, with Esteban Puerta, David Miranda, Gary Mattis, Sean Labsan and Austin Langham – hitters Nos. 3-7, scoring all 11 of the runs.
Trailing 1-0, the Owls took the lead for good with three runs in the second – an inning that featured only one FAU hit. The Owls loaded the bases with no outs on a hit batsman and two walks. Pedro Pages’ single drove in Mattis, and Labsan came home on a throwing error. Tyler Frank’s sacrifice fly gave the Owls their final run of the inning.
Leading 6-2, the Owls broke the game open with a five-run seventh. Miranda drove in the first run with a triple and later scored.
Mark Stewart allowed two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win of the year.
FAU has now won three consecutive games, during which the Owls have combined to score 39 runs. Florida Atlantic has broken the 10-run barrier in six of its 13 games this season.
GameBrowser: FAU (8-4-1) 11, Maine (5-6) 3
Moving Forward: Mattis stayed hot, reaching base three times and scoring twice while playing second base for the first time in his college career. …Langham scored three times despite only having one official at-bat. He also made a nifty diving play at third base that prevented a run. …Tyler Frank’s diving play behind the bag in the sixth inning didn’t result in an out, but it did prevent a run from scoring.
Sliding Backward: Aldrich DeJongh made the start in left field but went hitless on the night. …Second baseman Stephen Kerr missed his fourth consecutive game with oblique soreness. FAU coach John McCormack is hopeful he’ll get Kerr back this weekend. …Jared Shouppe aggravated his hamstring injury at Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday and did not play against Maine.
Key Stat: 10 – walks drawn by FAU batters on the night. The Owls were also hit by three pitches.
Up Next: Toledo comes to town for a three-game weekend series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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