Owls Turn the Table on the Cajuns With Third Inning Power Surge

Contact: Matt Hebert

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BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic used a pair of home runs in the third inning to erase an early Louisiana lead and staring pitcher Ryan Garton settled in after the first two innings to lead the Owls to a 7-3 victory in the Sun Belt Conference weekend series opener Friday evening at FAU Stadium.

Louisiana (13-12, 3-4 Sun Belt) scored two-out runs in the first and second inning off Garton and drove his pitch count to 42 through the first two frames.

Robert Buckley and Corey Keller both homered for FAU (17-10, 6-1 Sun Belt) in the third inning for the first of six unanswered runs which gave the Owls the lead.

Garton, who averaged 21 pitches over the first two innings, limited his pitches to an average of 13 over the next four innings which allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning. He held UL scoreless until an unearned run scored on a fielding error with one out in the seventh.

Ahmed Garcia relieved Garton and tossed 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to lock up the victory.

Louisiana outhit the Owls 13-9, but 12 of the squad's 13 hits were singles. FAU belted three home runs in the contest off of Cajuns starter Jordan Nicholson which led to four of the seven runs the hosts scored.

“We did a good job of scoring first, then went back out in the second inning and got another run on the board,” head coach Tony Robichaux said. “They got a couple of critical balls out of the ballpark on us and that's what really hurt us.”

Four Cajuns – Chase Compton, Jace Conrad, Tyler Frederick and Ryan Leonards – all posted multiple-hit games, each collecting two hits.

Louisiana dropped a series opener for the first time this season and lost for only the third time in 13 night games.

The two teams continue the series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. (CDT). The Cajuns are scheduled to start left-hander Chris Griffitt (3-2, 4.33 ERA) against a pitcher to be named for the Owls.

The Cajuns ended a string of four consecutive games in which the opposition scored first, using a little two-out magic in the top of the first inning.

Conrad singled down the left field line with one out, then two batters later Compton kept the inning alive with a two-out single through the right side. Daniel Nichols followed with the second two-out hit of the frame, depositing the ball into shallow right field to plate Conrad for a 1-0 lead.

Louisiana generated another run on a two-out hit in the second inning. Frederick delivered a single through the left side to score Leonards who led off with a bloop single to shallow right center.

Nicholson worked around a leadoff single by FAU in the second inning to keep the Owls off the scoreboard.

Mike Albaladejo singled to lead off the bottom of the third inning for FAU, but this time Nicholson wasn't able to post a zero as a pair of Owls home runs produced three runs to give the hosts a 3-2 advantage.

FAU parlayed a leadoff single for the third straight inning into an additional tally in the bottom of the fourth inning. Back-to-back infield singles from Geoff Jimenez and Nathan Pittman, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Mitch Morales set the stage for an Albaladejo sacrifice fly which increased the Owls lead to 4-2.

“Down 3-2 and 4-2, that's manageable,” Robichaux said. “We have to learn how to win on the road. Sometimes you're not going to throw shutouts.

“We had their starter on the ropes and you could tell he was trying to settle in and didn't early on. But, as the game wore on he did. We have to be able to stop that, be able to deliver the knockout punch in that situation and keep the ball in the ballpark.”

Both pitchers retired the side in order in the fifth inning, marking the first 1-2-3 frames of the contest.

A Mike Spano home run over the right field wall began the Owls' half of the sixth inning and ended Nicholson's night. FAU extended the lead to 6-2 as Jordan Harrison issued a four-pitch walk to Jimenez who moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Morales single.

The teams swapped unearned runs in the seventh inning. UL cut the lead to 6-3 in the top of the frame on a fielding error by Newton. FAU got the run back when a Sinclair throwing error on a stolen base attempt moved a runner to third base then a Keller sacrifice fly returned the Owls lead to four runs.

BASES NOTED: Louisiana appeared at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton for the first time since the 2008 season…UL scored first for the 16^th time in 25 games…The three home runs allowed by Jordan Nicholson were only the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th allowed in his career through 139 2/3 career innings…Nicholson entered the night having allowed just two home runs in 36 1/3 innings…Jace Conrad's single in the first inning extended his season-best hitting streak to six games…Tyler Frederick also extended an active hitting streak, stretching his current season-best streak to seven games with the two-out RBI single in the second inning…Tyler Frederick, Jace Conrad, Chase Compton and Ryan Leonards all posted multiple-hit games for the Cajuns, increasing the team's season total to 60…For Compton and Leonards, they now have a team-best 10 multi-hit games…Adam Todd, a catcher who walked on and played for the Cajuns in 2010 but decided to focus on academics last season, rejoined the squad just in time for the trip to Boca Raton…He saw action in the bottom of the eighth inning, replacing Chris Sinclair who was pinch hit for by Logan Preston in the top of the eighth…It marked the first time in 25 games this season that Sinclair was lifted from a game…Todd's addition to the squad was valuable as the only other catching candidate, Tyler Girouard, is dealing with a quad strain which prevents him from being able to catch...The loss was the Cajuns' fourth straight defeat dating back to a 6-4 loss to Arkansas State on Saturday, March 24 – a season-long losing skid…FAU trimmed the Cajuns all-time series lead to 8-7…The Owls own a 3-1 lead in contests played in Boca Raton.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Owls Turn the Table on the Cajuns With Third Inning Power Surge

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