FAU Baseball (16-10) defeated the University of Central Florida Knights (16-9) 4-2 in a standalone game Tuesday night. The victory completes the season sweep over UCF, after the Knights traveled to Boca Raton on Feb. 21 and fell 13-3.

“Gave up some hits, made it a little… interesting at times, but ultimately got the job done,” said head coach John McCormack. “We were able to get some runners on and move them over. It was a good night, good team win.”

Just like in their series against Middle Tennessee State last weekend, the Owls quickly went down; a pair of RBI singles left UCF ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning.

Shortly thereafter, lightning in the area delayed the game for almost an hour before play resumed at 8:03 p.m.

When play resumed, the Owls’ defense fielded a solid performance against the Knights. On 10 total hits by the Knights, only two led to runs scored. The Knights also committed four errors, while the Owls committed none. 

Yet, the rest of the game was quiet.. There were several chances for the Owls, with runners in scoring position and bases loaded, but they weren’t able to send a run home until the fifth. 

FAU’s comeback began in the bottom of the fifth when junior shortstop Armando Albert hit a single into left field, allowing freshman second baseman Lucas Phelps to score. Later on in the inning, senior designated hitter Mitchell Hartigan hit a line drive, which gave Albert a chance to score. Just like that, FAU tied the game at 2 runs apiece.

In the sixth inning, Albert hit a single that sent sophomore pinch hitter John Schroeder to score for the Owls, taking the lead.

Finally, in the seventh inning, with runners on first and second, junior left fielder Dylan Goldstein hit a double, bringing junior first baseman Nolan Schanuel home, to move the Owls’ lead to 4-2.

The Owls had a total of seven changes on the pitcher’s mound. Junior right-hander Danny Trehey got the start for FAU in his first game after coming back from injury and was taken out early on in the first inning. In total, FAU’s seven pitchers struck out 13 batters and allowed only two runs on 10 hits.

“The big part of the game was Caleb [Pendleton] throwing out the guy,” said McCormack. “I think they grounded out twice. The rest of it was fly outs and strikeouts.”

The Owls move on to face the Rice University Owls (13-12, 4-2 C-USA) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a three-game series. The series continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. and then ends on Sunday at noon.

Maddox Greenberg is the Business Manager for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or DM via Facebook @maddox greenberg.