Despite the heavy rain showers throughout, the FAU baseball team starts off the season with a sweep of the Delaware Blue Hens in their opening series, scoring a total of 25 runs through the three games. 

The first game was scheduled to end on Friday night, but rain hit FAU Baseball Stadium when the Owls got off to an early 5-1 lead. The game was suspended due to the weather and was set to resume the next day in the afternoon right where the game left off, which was in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

However, the Owls didn’t seem to lose a step as they added three more runs in the rest of the game. Sophomore starting third baseman B.J. Murray, was the most impressive player in the first game was and is expected to see an everyday role after only playing 20 games last season. 

Murray hit the ball three times in his five at-bats and racked up five RBIs to go along with his first home run of the season. Pitcher Jacob Josey got the start Friday night and was efficient as he pitched four innings, struck out four batters while allowing one run. But credited with the win was reliever Adrien Reese who pitched two scoreless innings, only allowing one hit. 

Almost thirty minutes after the Owls 8-4 win, came the second game of the series where it became the Mitchell Hartigan show. The sophomore left fielder scored three runs, drove in two runners and hit a home run. Designated hitter Jared DeSantolo also had two RBIs, but the pitching was a concern. 

The redshirt junior pitcher struggled early in the first inning, letting go of three runs giving the Blue Hens a 3-0 lead in the first inning. He started to settle in after and pitched two more innings, but the win was given to reliever Jon Jon Kostantis. 

He pitched three innings, struck out two, but he did allow two runs, but it wasn’t enough as the Owls led by six runs at the time. Junior Mike Entenza would finish the game off, allowing no runs, striking out five. 

As the Owls would proceed to win the game, 9-5, head coach John McCormack saw the bright side of having to play almost two games in one day. 

“It’s Opening Weekend, we’ve had a lot of weather, but I’m really proud of the guys,” McCormack said. “We had some guys really step up on the field. It’s good to see Mike Entenza and Jon Jon [Kostantis], they did a really nice job. BJ [Murray] carried us in the first game and [Jacob] Josey was spectacular and then, of course, got rained out. We need to clean some things up, but for Opening Weekend and a long day today, I thought we did a nice job.”

In the final game of the series, the rain struck again, this time ending the game after five innings. The Owls would make most of the short game, completing the sweep on the Blue Hens, 8-2. 

The offense for FAU tore up Delaware pitcher Derek Wakeley, scoring five runs on seven hits. Three home runs were allowed in game three, coming from the likes of Andru Summerall, Alex Arauz and Cade Parker. 

Speaking of Parker, he had a breakout game that will stay in the brain of head coach McCormack. The freshman center fielder got his first start, replacing Jackson Wenstrom, and made the most out of it as he went perfect at the plate with three hits and two RBIs.

Through five innings, the Owls only used two pitchers, starting Corey Ireson and Dante Viscotti in his first collegiate appearance. Ireson allowed the two runs but had four strikeouts. 

Coach McCormack spoke highly of the newcomers and the rest of the team in the win. 

“Guys played great, really really swung the bats well,” McCormack said. “Corey [Ireson] settled down and had a nice outing and Dante Visconti was able to get in there, did well and got through it. But Cade Parker, wow. Good job, way to come out of the gates swinging.”

With the sweep, it’s the sixth straight year the Owls have started with one, but now they set their sights on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles as they’ll play tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in FAU Baseball Stadium. 

Zachary Weinberger is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @ZachWeinberger.