Baseball: Owls lose 5-4 to Rice, face elimination in C-USA Tournament

The Owls will play Louisiana Tech later today with the loser being eliminated

Tyler Frank. Alex Rodriguez | Features Editor

Matt Brown, Contributing Writer
May 25, 2018

In the battle of the Owls FAU baseball falls 5-4 to Rice to fall into the losers’ bracket of the C-USA tournament.

No.3 FAU (37-16-1) loses to Rice for the first time this season after previously beating them twice, along with tying them once. They are to face off against Louisiana Tech later tonight, a team they haven’t played all season.

No.7 Rice (26-29-2, 12-15-2) gets their second straight win over a higher ranked seed after previously defeating No.2 Louisiana Tech 6-2 the previous day. They are one win away from making it to their second straight tournament championship game after winning it all last year.

Jake Miednik got the start again for the Owls after previously starting the first game of the tournament against FIU prior to being pulled after two innings after the rain delay.

He started out by striking out three of the first six batters he faced in the first two innings.

He finished allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six in four innings.

First baseman Andru Summerall got FAU on board first in the third with a solo home run to right field, his eighth of the season.

Rice followed that up in the bottom half of the inning when first baseman Chace Sarchet led the inning off with a triple. He scored off left fielder Dominic Cox’s double to left center, tying things up at one.

FAU looked to extend their lead in the next inning, loading the bases with no outs. They were unable to record any runs after Rice recorded three straight outs to end the inning.

Rice took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth after designated hitter Justin Collins single to left put them up 2-1.

FAU tied the game after catcher Gunnar Lambert’s solo home run to right field, his second of the tournament and 10th overall.

With two on and two outs third baseman Justin Comeaux hit an RBI double to left field giving Rice a 3-2 lead after five innings.

After a scoreless sixth inning FAU designated hitter Jared DeSantolo’s single to left center tied things up once again at three apiece.

Rice led off the inning with a base on balls to center fielder Ryan Chandler. Chandler scored after second baseman Trei Cruz hit a two-run homer to right field, which later proved to be the game winner.

FAU second baseman Richie Nizza scored an unearned run in the eighth to cut the lead to one, 5-4.

Heading into the ninth needing one run to tie it the first two FAU batters popped out.

DeSantolo then singled through the right side for his fourth hit of the game but third baseman Joe Montes struck out looking to end the game.

DeSantolo went 4-for-5 with an RBI. He was the lone Owl to get multiple hits.

Lambert went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Wilson, Poore, and Summerall had the other three hits to make up FAU’s eight for the day.

Mark Nowatnick was credited with the loss after pitching 2.2 innings of relief for Miednik. He walked three while allowing two hits and three runs.

The Owls will face No.2 Louisiana Tech later today with first pitch tentatively scheduled for 5:00 p.m est.

Matt Brown is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @mattyb407.