NEW ORLEANS ? University of New Orleans All-America second baseman Johnny Giavotella hit a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Privateers to a 6-5 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon at Maestri Field.
Giavotella hit a line drive through the right side off FAU reliever Brett Cannon to score Tyrone Wethers and hand UNO (33-13, 14-8 Sun Belt Conference) its eighth straight win.
The base hit also capped a wild ending to a game that was cruising right along thanks to quality starting pitching.
UNO carried a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning thanks to another good outing by right-hander Stephen Whalen. The senior allowed just one hit and did not surrender an earned run before leaving after seven innings.
But FAU (25-19, 12-9) got to UNO closer Ryan O'Shea quickly. The Owls got an RBI single from Nick Arata before Mike McKenna ? the Owls' top hitter ? hit a two-out, two-run double to give FAU a 5-4 lead.
UNO, though, answered right back when Joey Butler (2-for-4, two runs) led off the bottom of the inning with a triple. Jeff Lanning tied it up with an RBI groundout to second.
O'Shea worked a scoreless ninth, and the Privateers got their game-winning rally started when pinch-hitter Alan Harris was hit by a pitch by FAU's Mike Gipson (3-1). A sacrifice bunt by Ryan Eden moved the pinch-runner Wethers to second ? setting up Giavotella's heroics.
“We really needed a game like this,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter, whose team clinched its sixth consecutive SBC series win. “To win games in the postseason, you are going to get knocked down. You have to be able to battle back, and that's exactly what we did today.”
UNO's Josh Vander Hey went 2-for-4, including a two-run double in the seventh that broke a 2-2 tie. Michael Knipper also had a two-run single and scored a run.
Whalen, who gave up one hit for the second straight start, struck out five before leaving with a 4-2 lead. FAU starter Jeff Believeau also had a strong effort. The left-hander struck out a season-high nine batters and gave up two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. He threw 133 pitches.
“Stephen Whalen certainly deserved to win this game,” Walter said. “It's the best he has pitched this year. We needed that kind of start from Stephen, and that is exactly what he has been giving us lately.”
The Owls, who entered the weekend fourth in the Sun Belt with a .325 average, were held to just four hits. Third baseman Sean Bukovich went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.
The two teams will wrap up the series at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. The game time was moved up 30 minutes due to FAU travel plans.
