JONESBORO, Ark. (05/10/09) ? Florida Atlantic second baseman William
Block delivered a three-run triple in the eighth inning, then scored on an
Arkansas State throwing error on the play to wipe out a 6-5 Red Wolves
advantage and put FAU on top 9-6. The
Owls went on to defeat ASU 10-6 Sunday afternoon and earn a 2-1 Sun Belt Conference series victory
at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field.
With the win, Florida Atlantic (27-22, 10-16) dealt a blow to ASU's
chances of making the eight-team Sun Belt Conference Tournament May 20-23 in Troy, Alabama. With the loss, Arkansas State
falls to 20-29 overall, 10-17 in Sun Belt play and in 10th place in
the league standings. The Red Wolves
will likely need a sweep over in-state rival Arkansas-Little Rock next week in
the final conference series of the season in order to make the eight-team
tournament field.
The two teams took a 4-4 tie into the seventh inning before Arkansas State scored a pair of unearned runs to
grab a 6-4 advantage. ASU designated
hitter Murray Watts reached on an error to lead off the seventh for the Red
Wolves and eventually scored on a wild pitch, and first baseman Brandon Eller
walked before coming home on a passed ball later in the inning to give Arkansas
State the two-run advantage.
Missed opportunities kept the Red Wolves' lead from being larger,
however. After scoring once in the sixth
to tie the game at 4-4, Arkansas
State failed to score
again after loading the bases with no outs.
After scoring twice in the seventh to take the 6-4 lead, the Red Wolves
again had runners in scoring position with no outs on the board and could not
add to the lead.
“Block had a big hit in the eighth that really hurt us,” said ASU
Head Coach Tommy Raffo. “But the bottom
line is that we had opportunities with runners at third base and less than two
outs and didn't capitalize. If you
execute, your chances to win the ballgame elevate big-time. We didn't execute and that hurt.”
“I was very proud of the way the guys fought back today,” added
Raffo. “We were down a couple of times
and came back from that. It was a very
tight game all the way through until they broke it open with five in the
eighth.”
Florida Atlantic took a 1-0 lead in the first before a solo home
run from ASU center fielder Todd Baumgartner tied the game in the bottom of the
inning, and the Red Wolves went up 2-1 in the second when catcher Kyle DeGrace
walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The Owls tied the game at 2-2 in the third on an RBI single from
designated hitter Tom Hatcher, then scored twice in the fifth to give FAU a 4-2
advantage.
A triple to center field from Watts
pulled ASU to within a run at 4-3 in the fifth and the Red Wolves tied the game
in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk from shortstop Jordan Kimball.
Watts and
Baumgartner were each 1-for-4 with an RBI to lead ASU at the plate, while
shortstop Nick DelGuidice went 2-for-5 with an RBI to lead FAU.
Glen Troyanowski (3-3) picked up the win for Florida Atlantic, giving
up two runs, neither of which were earned, on no hits in two innings of
work. Troyanowski struck out three and
walked four. Chris Bullington (1-3)
took the loss for ASU giving up four runs on four hits, with no walks and no
strikeouts in two innings of work.
The Red Wolves will be back in action Tuesday, May 12 when they
host Murray State in the final home game of the
season. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
