FAU baseball could land a spot in the top 25 after another three-victory weekend at home that pushed their record to 9-0.
The most notable win was a 9-6 victory over 17th ranked Oklahoma State on Saturday night. The win came after rallying from a 6-2 deficit.
The Cowboys and Owls both saved their ace starting pitchers for the showdown between undefeated teams. But initially the game was not a pitchers’ duel between FAU’s Mickey Storey (3-0) and OSU’s Oliver Odle.
Storey (3-0) struggled in the first three innings as he allowed five runs on eight hits. The junior then settled down over the next four innings. Storey ended up striking out a career high 12, working into the eighth inning.
An FAU rally in the third chased Odle from the contest. William Block led off the inning with his third homer of the year. Sun Belt Player of the Week Robbie Widlansky drove home Daniel Bomback with a triple. Mike McKenna then plated Widlansky with a double.
“It is good to see that when our pitcher got knocked around and we needed a hit we responded,” said FAU Head Coach Kevin Cooney. “The first three weeks of the season our hitters have responded to the challenge each time.”
Chris Salberg entered in the eighth inning to work the final 1 1/3 innings in relief of Storey. The senior picked up his first save by striking out two and not allowing a hit.
On Friday FAU defeated Ball State 8-3. McKenna and Bomback both homered for the Owls in the win. Brandon Cooney got the win on the mound to improve his record to 2-0. Cooney gave up just one earned run in six innings. Alex Pepe and Chris Eberhart combined for three scoreless innings to finish the game.
On Sunday the Owls came out swinging again to defeat LaSalle 16-8. Bomback, Block and Justin Ferreira had four RBI each to lead the Owls to victory. Mike Obradovich (3-0) won his third game in as many starts.
Next weekend the Owls travel to Houston, Texas for a tournament featuring Rice and Nebraska, both ranked college baseball powerhouses. Rice opened the season as the nation’s top team, since then they have dropped to number seven.
