The FAU Owls baseball team (3-2) lost 9-1 on the road against the University of Miami (UM) Hurricanes (5-0) in Coral Gables on Wednesday night. Heading into the game, Miami ranked 24th in the nation. 

“We didn’t do anything,” head coach John McCormack said. “We didn’t play defense, we didn’t pitch, we didn’t hit, [it was] very disappointing.” 

Miami opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore first baseman CJ Kayfus led off with a double. He was brought in off of a single to shallow left field by sophomore third baseman Yohandy Morales. 

Sophomore first baseman Nolan Schanuel tied the game in the third inning with a home run down the right field line after swinging at the first pitch he saw. This wound up being FAU’s only run.

Senior catcher Nicholas Toney came in to replace sophomore Caleb Pendleton in the bottom of the third.

“The trainer said [Pendleton’s] leg was bothering him so we took him out,” McCormick said. “He’ll get in the training room and we will see how it is tomorrow.” 

The Hurricanes added three runs in their half of the third before forcing McCormack to change pitchers. Kayfus led off with a single, sophomore shortstop Dominic Pitelli walked, and junior catcher Maxwell Romero Jr. sacrificed a flyout for the first run of the inning. Freshman left fielder Lorenzo Carrier was hit, followed by a single up the middle by freshman second baseman Dorian Gonzalez Jr. to drive in another run. Sophomore center-fielder Jacob Burke singled to bring in another. 

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Hayden Compton entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the third to replace sophomore left-handed pitcher Marc DeGusipe. DeGusipe finished with 50 pitches over 2 ⅔ innings, conceding four runs on seven hits and a walk. 

Compton was pulled after the fourth, as he finished with 29 pitches in 1 ⅓ innings pitched. He walked two batters and struck out three. Freshman left-hander Max Martzolf replaced him. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Morales reached on an error sophomore center-fielder Jalen DeBose committed, then Romero Jr. and Carrier walked to load the bases with no outs. Gonzalez Jr. grounded into a fielder’s choice to keep the bases loaded with one out.

Martzolf’s day ended after throwing 50 pitches in 2 ⅓ innings and allowing three runs on no hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore Robert Wegielnik entered the game in relief. 

With the bases loaded, Wegielnik’s first pitch went past Toney to concede a run and extend Miami’s lead to 5-1. Burke hit a single to get two RBIs and sophomore center-fielder Jacoby Long unloaded a two-run homer to right field to make the final score 9-1. 

FAU will come back to Boca Raton for a three-game set against the University of Delaware Blue Hens. The series will begin Friday, Feb. 25, and end Sunday, Feb. 27. C-USA TV will broadcast all three games. 

Bryce Totz is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @brycetotz.