NEW ORLEANS ? University of New Orleans right-hander Bryan Cryer became the school's all-time strikeout leader and set a new career high in the process to help the Privateers to a 10-6 win over Florida Atlantic in Sun Belt Conference play on a wet Friday night at Maestri Field.
Cryer (10-1) went six shutout innings, struck out a career-best 12 and passed former Major League standout Wally Whitehurst with 314 career K's as UNO (32-13, 13-8 Sun Belt) moved into a tie for second place in the league standings.
The senior, who pitched his final game at home, became the first pitcher in the nation to reach 10 wins.
Johnny Giavotella hit a three-run home run, and T.J. Baxter had a two-run shot and reached base four times. Josh Vander Hey went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
But this night belonged to Cryer. The former walk-on allowed one hit and withstood three separate rain delays. The game had four rain delays overall and did not finish until nearly 12:15 a.m. on Saturday.
“That was the most dominating performance I have seen out of Bryan,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “And he has had some great ones. He really wanted this game badly. To get 12 strikeouts against a team like FAU is no small accomplishment.”
The Privateers jumped on FAU starter Mickey Storey (3-5) early. The right-hander, a former All-America pick, gave up a two-run home run to Baxter in the first before the Privateers got a two-run shot from Mark McGonigle (1-for-3 on the night) in the second to make it 4-0.
UNO chased Storey after two before adding a run in the third and five more in the fifth to make it 10-0.
Cryer, who did walk five, picked up his record-setting strikeout in the fifth when the Denham Springs product got FAU third baseman Sean Bukovich to strike out looking.
As Cryer walked off the mound in the sixth after striking out FAU catcher Alex Silversmith, Walter greeted his four-year ace with a hand shake ? finishing off his final outing at home as a Privateer.
“This was the biggest game of the year for us, and he has been our big-game pitcher since I've been here,” Walter said. “He was outstanding.”
The Privateers finished with 15 hits overall and had 11 hits in the first five innings.
“We really did a good job with Storey,” Walter said. “That is a guy who will pitch professionally. But we laid off his breaking ball, and we hit some balls out of the park at the right time.”
UNO had three home runs on the night. It was the 18th straight game that the Privateers have hit a home run.
Bukovich finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored for FAU (25-18, 12-8). The Owls scored six unanswered runs in their final three at-bats, including four in the eighth inning.
The two teams will continue the three-game series at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
