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ollowing a second weather postponement between the two teams this season, No. 17 Florida Atlantic baseball (30-13) traveled to Coral Gables to take on the No. 3 University of Miami Hurricanes on Thursday night. Although FAU won its previous matchup 4-3 against the Hurricanes on April 20, Miami would even the season series at one win apiece following its 5-2 victory over the Owls.

Miami (34-8) came out aggressively in game two, capitalizing on the early struggles of FAU redshirt sophomore pitcher David McKay. After allowing five total hits in the first matchup against Miami, McKay allowed five hits in just the first inning, allowing Miami to jump out to a 3-0 lead.

McKay managed to get back on track in the following five innings, allowing only two hits and striking out four Miami batters during the rest of his time on the mound.

McKay was relieved by freshman pitcher Nick Swan and sophomore pitcher Mark Nowatnick in a seventh inning where the Hurricanes earned two more runs to effectively close the door on FAU’s comeback.

FAU junior pitcher Colyn O’Connell finished the game for FAU, not allowing any hits in the game’s eighth inning.

Although FAU Junior shortstop CJ Chatham got things started for the offense with his sixth home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning over the left field wall, the Owls lineup struggled against Miami’s pitching for much of the evening. FAU finished with five hits and two runs in 32 at-bats.

The Owls move on to a nine-game stretch over the next 11 days, starting with a three game series against the University of Texas at San Antonio this Friday, May 6, at 6:30 p.m in Boca Raton.

Christopher Libreros is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @ChrisIsAirborne.