NEW ORLEANS - Florida Atlantic scored three runs in the ninth inning to take a 9-6 win at New Orleans on Friday evening at Maestri Field.
Eddie Cassidy's RBI single broke a 6-6 tie, and Colby Gratton later added a two-out, two-run single, as FAU (17-13, 8-5 Sun Belt Conference) took the series opener.
Dan Scheffler went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Andy Mee went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. The Owls tallied 13 hits and overcame four errors.
Mee also tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his fifth save for reliever R.J. Alvarez (2-1).
Rodarrick Jones and Nolan Church each had three hits for UNO (9-19, 1-12), which recorded 15 hits overall.
Joe Zimmermann (0-4) suffered the loss.
The game was back and forth throughout. UNO grabbed a 4-2 lead in the fourth keyed by RBI singles from Jones and freshman Johnny Thomas.
But the Owls answered right back in the fifth with three off Privateer starter Jim McGonigle. Scheffler provided a two-run double and later scored on an RBI single by Nathan Pittman.
UNO followed with two runs in the bottom of the frame before FAU tied it at 6-6 in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Raymond Church.
The Owls finally put it away in the ninth thanks to Cassidy, who notched his first hit of the night, before Gratton added two big insurance runs on a single to left field.
Mee allowed two baserunners in the bottom of the inning but got Alan Harris to ground out to shortstop to end it.
The two teams will continue the series at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
