After losing their midweek contest last Tuesday, FAU looked to bounce back with a series victory in San Antonio. The top two offenses in UTSA (23-7, 5-1 AAC) and Florida Atlantic squared off over the weekend, but it was all Roadrunners as the Owls were swept in Texas.
Game One
Early in the second, Brando Leroux was HBP with the bases loaded which scored a run. Following that, Marshall Lipsey hit a grand slam giving the Owls a 5-1 advantage.
UTSA put two more runs on the board, but a Jake Duer sac-fly gave FAU a 6-3 lead. At the end of four it was 6-4 Florida Atlantic. Sadly for FAU, pitching fell apart as UTSA plated five-unanswered runs. The Owls would tally one more in the eighth, but the Roadrunners won 10-7.
Starter Trey Beard pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five earned runs, had only four strikeouts and walked five.
Game Two
Just like game one, FAU had a lead early. After leading 1-0 in the first, the Owls’ John Schroeder smashed one over the wall giving Florida Atlantic a 3-0 advantage. Afterwards, it was all UTSA as the Roadrunners trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the 7th. There, the Roadrunners knocked SP Tyler Murphy out of the game and scored four runs in the seventh. The final run in the eighth gave UTSA a 7-3 victory, securing the series.
Tyler Murphy had a solid first six innings allowing only two runs off of six hits and walking only three batters. After back-to-back singles in the seventh is when the bullpen came into play. In total, the Owls threw four pitchers in the fourth. Murphy ended up being responsible for four runs.
Game Three
Florida Atlantic’s John Schroeder’s solo shot put FAU ahead 1-0 in the second. UTSA tied the contest up in the third thanks to a sac-fly.
In his first career start, Dylan Murphy scored Schroeder thanks to a liner into left field. The hit and RBI was Murphy’s first in his career.
Trailing 2-1, the Roadrunners scored three runs as they led 4-2 entering the fifth. FAU responded though as Ayden Garcia plated Duer. Later in the inning, Schroeder walked, which set up a Jake Millan three-run shot which put Florida Atlantic ahead 6-4.
The Roadrunners then tied the game in the seventh and walked off the contest in the ninth as the Owls were swept.
SP James Litman went 4.2 innings, gave up three earned runs, and struck out three.
Series Notables
While FAU did not earn a win over the weekend, a couple of players put up solid performances during the series.
Starting off, John Schroeder’s hot bat traveled to San Antonio as he posted a 4-of-12 weekend with 3 RBIs and scored four times. While he may not have been the clutchest of hitters, his solid performance kept the Owls within striking distance throughout the series.
Secondly, after a solid weekend against Rice, Brando Leroux kept his performance up. The Senior infielder went 4-of-9 with a walk, a double and a RBI. Leroux’s success of getting on base also saw him score twice on Friday. Putting one’s self in a situation to score is always a success.
Finally, OF Marshall Lipsey went 5-of-14. Lipsey produced 4 RBIs on Friday thanks to his grand slam, and had a walk on Sunday. The top of the lineup has had production over the past two weekends thanks to the junior’s ability to get on base early and often.
Although it was not a solid weekend record wise, FAU is still second in batting average and ERA only behind UTSA in the AAC.
Look Ahead
Florida Atlantic (19-9, 2-4 AAC) hopes to end their four-game skid on Tuesday as the Owls will face off against FGCU (10-18, 2-7 ASUN). First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM in Fort Myers, Florida.