NEW ORLEANS - Florida Atlantic's pitching staff kept New Orleans off the
board until the final two innings in a 9-3 win on Saturday afternoon at
Maestri Field.
Right-handed pitcher Mike Gipson (6-1) pitched seven innings, striking out five UNO (9-20, 1-13 Sun Belt) batters while allowing just five hits. He was relieved by southpaw Barry Rooks, who allowed three runs during the last two innings to close out the win for FAU (18-13, 9-5 SBC).
When the Owls were not getting a strong performance on the mound, they were getting production from the top four hitters in their lineup, who combined for an 8-of-16 effort at the plate.
Andy Mee was the top hitter for the visitors, going 3-for-6 with two RBIs. Raymond Church and Dan Scheffler also had two RBIs apiece.
FAU struck early for four runs off of UNO starter
John Pivach (0-4), who lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits, while walking four.
The Owls added to their total with two more runs off of
Mats Mattson in the sixth inning and another three in the ninth with
Randy Verdin on the mound.
Nick Schwaner began the late inning scoring for the hosts, posting the first run on the scoreboard for the Privateers with his ninth home run of the season in the eighth inning over the right field wall.
A
Rodarrick Jones double to right field scored John Thomas and
Kyle Maldonado in the ninth inning to cap the scoring. Thomas was the top hitter for the Privateers after a 3-for-4 performance at the plate while Maldonado had two hits of his own.
The two teams will close out their three-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m. The start time was moved up an hour to accommodate FAU's travel arrangements.
