FAU Builds Early Lead and Holds Off UL For Series Sweep

Contact: Matt Hebert

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BOCA RATON, Fla. – A pair of two-out home runs in the first inning gave Florida Atlantic the lead and the pitching staff held Louisiana to one hit through the first seven innings which led the Owls to an 8-3 victory Sunday afternoon at FAU Stadium that completed a series sweep of the Ragin' Cajuns.

Earlier in the day, the Cajuns missed an opportunity to extend a 2-0 lead in the suspended contest from Saturday by coming away empty in the sixth inning with runners on second and third and nobody out. The Owls plated four runs in the seventh to complete the come-from-behind 5-2 win that clinched the series victory.

Mark Nelson brought home the Owls' first runs of Sunday's regularly scheduled game with a two-run, opposite field home run to left center field off of Cajuns starter Derek Howell. Corey Keller took advantage of the wind blowing out to left field as he followed Nelson with a homer that staked FAU (19-10, 8-1 Sun Belt) to a 3-0 lead.

Owls starter Austin Gomber tossed no-hit baseball at the Cajuns (13-14, 3-6 Sun Belt) through 4 2/3 innings.

In the meantime, FAU stretched its lead to 7-0 using a solo home run by Ricky Santiago in the second inning and a three-spot in the fourth inning.

Louisiana broke through on Gomber in the fifth inning when Jordan Bourque's two-out single through the left side plated Daniel Nichols who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.

Relievers Henri Faucheux and Kendall Mayer held the Owls to just a single run from the sixth through eighth inning keeping the Cajuns within striking distance.

Bourque started a rally for the Cajuns in the eighth inning with a single through the left side. He stole second base and crossed home plate on a Brian Bowman single up the middle. Bowman later advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Tyler Frederick grounder to cut the Owls lead to 7-3.

Brett Nizamoff stopped the Cajuns rally off of Michael Sylvestri by striking out Chase Compton. In the ninth inning, Julian Loret de Mola retired UL in order to end the contest.

“We're just in a tough situation right now, we've backed ourselves up a little bit,” head coach Tony Robichaux said. “There are a lot of tests for us right now because we're young and we're short some arms in our bullpen, but some of those arms are starting to return for us. We just need to toughen up…that's all we can do.

“Our focus is to get back home later tonight, get some rest on Monday, take care of some classroom business and go to work Tuesday against Southeastern.”

The Ragin' Cajuns were swept in a Sun Belt Conference series for the first time since April 17-19, 2009 when South Alabama took all three at “The Tigue”. UL entered the FAU series on a string of 25 consecutive SBC series without being swept.

Derek Howell, who closed out the suspended contest with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, was charged with four runs in one inning of work and took the loss for the Cajuns.

Faucheux and Mayer combined for three innings of one-hit relief for the Cajuns bullpen.

Gomber picked up the win for FAU as he allowed just one run on one hit over five innings of work.

The Ragin' Cajuns are back in action on Tuesday, April 3 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field for a midweek contest with Southeastern Louisiana. The game starts a stretch in which the Cajuns will play seven of the next eight games at “The Tigue” including the next SBC series which is set for Friday-Sunday, April 6-8 against Western Kentucky.

BASES NOTED: Jordan Bourque led Louisiana with two base hits which marked his first multiple-hit game of the season…Almann Snowden started in left field marking the first time this season he's played an outfield position…Tyler Frederick and Jace Conrad saw season-high hit streaks come to an end…Frederick had hit safely in eight consecutive games and Conrad had a seven-game streak going…Jace Conrad extended his string of consecutive games of error-free baseball to 22 games as he fielded cleanly in all eight chances he saw during the FAU series…Conrad has now gone error-free in 93 consecutive chances…Louisiana lost its season-high sixth straight contest, a streak which dates back to a 6-4 loss to Arkansas State on March 24 at “The Tigue”…FAU reclaimed the series lead from Louisiana with the sweep, and now owns a 9-8 advantage…Last season, the Cajuns swept the Owls at “The Tigue” to pull head 8-6 in the series.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

FAU Builds Early Lead and Holds Off UL For Series Sweep

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