May 22, 2009 -- With the victory today, the Owls of Florida Atlantic University (33-20, 21-9 Sun-Belt) take 2 of 3 from the Golden Panthers of FIU (31-22, 17-13 Sun Belt).
In addition, the Owls secured both the regular season Sun-Belt title & number one seed for the Sun-Belt Championships. The tournament will be held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee next week. The winner will have a spot in the College Baseball World Series.
In his second year, Head Coach John McCormack takes his team from eighth (2009) to first (2010) seed for the upcoming tournament hosted by MTSU.
With his forty eight game hitting streak (an NCAA record), Shortstop Garett Wittles took the sting out of the loss for the Golden Panthers with three hits alone this Saturday.
Today Wittles eclipsed Wichita States Phil Stephenson who hit in 47 consecutive games in 1981. The Owls R.J. Alvarez also threw six innings with five strikeouts.
Up to the task, Alvarez’s excitable ways got him tossed in the sixth, but before doing so – threw 98 pitches. Reliever Hugh Adams collected the win (4-1) throwing one inning while only giving up one hit in this seesaw battle.
FIU compiled runs in six out of the nine innings played. FAU got their runs in four out of nine innings. The most significant inning was the seventh where they gathered seven runs out of their fourteen totals.
Nathan Pittman went two for three with two runs, four RBI and two bases on balls. Colby Gratton and Raymond Church both went two for five with a combined three runs and seven RBI.
The seventh inning for FAU was most significant, scoring seven runs on only four hits. Excellent base running and heads up play plus taking one for the team was productive.
Dan Scheffler & Anthony Mesa were each hit by pitches & eventually crossed home in the seventh. In addition, Nathan Pittman hit a 3 run shot over the fence with 3 RBI.
You can catch FAU on http://www.fausports.com/ on the Baseball listen live for the full broadcast via computer or radio starting next week.