By: Tobey Schulman
Recap: FAU 6 – ECU 5
FAU went into game two against East Carolina hoping to be able to get their offense going against their great pitching staff. The Owls only scored one run in game one, and looked like they couldn’t keep up with the ECU pitching. However, the Owls came out in game two and stuck around with the Pirates the entire game.
What was a wild game of lead changes, eventually resulted in the Owls winning in walkoff fashion in the bottom of the ninth to pick up a win over the #12 ranked team in the nation.
East Carolina yet again got the scoring started early in game two. Colby Wallace would record an RBI single off of Tyler Murphy to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. FAU would even up the score in the bottom half of the third when Spencer Rich singled, scoring Jalen DeBose. ECU would take the lead in the fourth with a Dixon Williams RBI single, but Emilio Gonzalez would come up for the Owls and groundout to record an RBI, tying the game at 2.
Postgame with @FAUCoachMac and the walk off hero Spencer Rich! #WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/maYxxXYTp5
— Florida Atlantic Baseball (@FAUBaseball) April 6, 2024
The Owls would try to break open the score even more in the fourth. Freshman Dylan LaPointe came up in a huge spot and hit an opposite field two-run home run to give FAU a 4-2 lead. This lead would be cut in the sixth however. ECU senior Justin Wilcoxen hit a solo home run to get the Pirates within a run. Carter Cunningham would tie the game up with an RBI single later in the inning.
ECU would re-take the lead in the eighth with a Jacob Jenkins Cowart RBI single that scored Dixon Williams. In the bottom half of the frame however, Spencer Rich would come around and score the tying run on a wild pitch.
The Owls were set up with a 5-5, tie ballgame and their go to closer on the mound: Danny Trehey. Trehey would strike out two in his one inning of work, and give his offense a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. The Owls would load the bases in the ninth.
Jalen DeBose would stand on first, Andrew McKenna on second, and Emilio Gonzalez was on third, 90 feet away from becoming the winning run. Spencer Rich would come up and in a 2-1 count, would line the baseball up the middle for a walkoff single.
This is a huge momentum shift for FAU going into this game three. They’ve struggled against good pitching this season, and they overcame that to even up the series. They’ll have a shot to take a series against the #12 ranked team in the country on Sunday.
