A nice little rally in the bottom of the 6th to put the Owls in this! Let's keep it going!

And just like that, the boys are back in this! #FAU had a huge comeback inning in the bottom of the 6th scoring 3 runs on #ODU to bring the score to 5-3.

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 27, 2019

 

And Bobby Morgensen keeps it going!! A solo homer to right puts ANOTHER on the board for the Owls! There's an energy with the team right now that wasn't there earlier in the game and the guys are certainly feeding off of it!

HOME RUN #FAU!! Bobby Morgensen hits a solo shot to to right in the top of the 7th to add another to the board for the Owls! #FAU is now down by just one run at 5-4

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 27, 2019

 

The Owls ran through their bullpen this inning. Dylan O'Connell replaced Coletti at the start of the inning but faced just one batter before being replaced with Zach Schneider who faced three batters, and gave up a run before being replaced with Jon Jon Kostantis. This was tough to watch, folks. Hopefully they can pick it back up in the bottom of the inning.

The Owls just pulled themselves out of a tough half inning. #FAU went through four pitchers in the top of the 8th after giving up 6 runs. #ODU now leads 11-4 heading into the bottom of the 8th

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 27, 2019

 

This was a particularly tough loss today. It really seemed like they were going to come back but the bullpen's meltdown in the 8th took away any chance of that happening. The Owls are going to have to come back very strong in tomorrow's game which, according to Coach Mac, is a must win.

#ODU 12 - #FAU 6 | FINAL

A rough day for the pitching staff causes the Owls to fall to Old Dominion in game 2 of the series. FAU will be back tomorrow at 12 as they look to stave off the sweep.

Morgensen- 1R 2H, 3RBI, 1HR
Rivera- 1H, 2R, 1BB
Summerall- 1H, 2RBI

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 27, 2019

 

Here's Coach Mac's Postgame:

Here’s Coach Mac’s thoughts on their loss and the bullpen’s performance today pic.twitter.com/r9fvudVHlQ

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 28, 2019

FAU baseball cut a five-run deficit down to one, but a six-run Old Dominion eighth sealed the series for the Monarchs, 12-6 on Saturday night. The Owls look to avoid a sweep with the Sunday finale beginning at noon.
Quotable

“We didn’t do much of anything today, we didn’t pitch well … Down 5-0 before we could do anything", said Head Coach John McCormack.

ODU (26-16, 9-11 C-USA) took a 5-0 lead early, with runs in each of the first four innings, and heading into the sixth, FAU had only two hits, and hadn’t yet gotten a runner into scoring position. The Owls broke through with three, two on an Andru Summerall two-out single, and a Bobby Morgensen home run leading off the seventh cut it to 5-4.

But the Monarchs brought 11 to the plate in the crucial eighth to regain the momentum.

"We scraped back into it, 5-4, and then we have an absolute meltdown with the pitching staff", said McCormack.

FAU (28-14, 14-6 C-USA) got back two in their half of the eighth, as Morgensen knocked in two more with a seeing-eye single. An unearned run came across for ODU in the ninth, and the Monarchs stranded two in the bottom half to clinch the series.

"They see a wounded pitching staff, and they took advantage of it", McCormack said. "Tomorrow is huge. I never say ‘must-win,’ but it is certainly a crucial game.”

Morgensen was 2-for-3, and his three RBI gives him 26 this year. He now has a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base in each of his last 16 games.

Game three of the series is slated for a 12:00 PM first pitch on Sunday.

- FAU Baseball SID Jonathan Fraysure

UPDATED SCHEDULE: 2019 FAU Baseball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest

Very disappointing  series so far from the Owls. The boys take the field hoping to at least salvage a win in the three game set.

A bit shocking to think about, but #FAU Baseball takes to the diamond in Boca hoping not to get swept by #ODU.

Jacob Josey delivers the first pitch to get us under way. C'MON BOYS! 👊

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 28, 2019

It's as if both teams are focused on finals rather than the game. That's actually fine, because they're not the only ones  

Snooze fest in a scoreless game through two innings in Boca. Josey is doing *fine* on the mound, but #FAU will need to wake up the bats and clean things up defensively in order to avoid the sweep.

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 28, 2019

When in a slump like this, it's imperative to knock score when you have runners on. We've had chances to open the flood gates but have only seen a droplet.

Leaving 👏 runners 👏 on 👏 base 👏 is 👏 killing 👏 us 👏

In the bottom of the fifth, #ODU leads #FAU 2-1. The Owls have stranded five ROBs. Summerall is now on first after our eighth hit of the game.

Let's bring 'em in boys!

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 28, 2019

Monarchs now lead 4-1 midway through the sixth. And yes, yes we did leave another runner on base to end our previous half inning….

#FAU leaves Summerall stranded on first. #ODU makes the Owls pay for it by expanding their lead to 4-1 via a two-run HR from Tommy Bell.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but..... pic.twitter.com/1ww36W4qIn

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) April 28, 2019