MOBILE, Ala. -- Four Florida Atlantic pitchers allowed only six hits on Sunday, while the Owls capitalized on 10 hits and 11 walks to defeat South Alabama 9-4 Sunday afternoon at Stanky Field. FAU took the series with its second straight win over the Jaguars.
Ray Kruml had three of the hits, including an RBI double in the eighth. Ryan Bohanan picked up a pair of singles, while Jake Overstreet drove in three with a bases-loaded double, also in the eighth. The Jaguars also had eight walks and were hit by three pitches, but stranded 12 runners.
Florida Atlantic (18-11, 8-5) led at one point 7-0, scoring two in the fourth, then adding single runs in the fifth and sixth and three in the eighth. A walk and a single in the fourth put runners on the corners with no one out, before a sacrifice bunt set up Nick Arata's two-double to right center. Two walks and a wild pitch led to the run in the fifth, while a hit-batsmen and a double in the sixth made the score 4-0.
The Owls added to their lead in the seventh with three runs on only two hits. A leadoff walk, a single and back-to-back hit batters plated the first run, then a double off the end of the bat of Travis Ozga led to two more.
South Alabama finally got on the board in the eighth. Sean Laird was hit by a pitch with one out, before Bohanan singled up the middle. Pinch hitter Chris Davis loaded the bases when he was hit by the next pitch. After the second out, Overstreet and Kruml both doubled to cut the lead to 7-4, but the threat ended there.
FAU added two runs in the ninth on a league-leading 14th home run of the season by Mike McKenna.
Owl starter Jeff Beliveau (2-2) kept the Jaguars at bay throughout the contest, scattering three hits, while striking out four. He did walk seven batters, but most of those were with two outs. Relievers Brett Cannon and Alex Pepe allowed the four runs in their 1.1 combined innings, while Glen Troyanowski closed the door with two strikeouts in the ninth.
Kevin Nabors (2-3) took the loss for South Alabama after relieving Chris LaGrow in the third inning. The sophomore starter did not surrender a run in 2.1 innings, but allowed two hits and six walks among the 14 batters he faced. Nabors gave up four earned runs in 2.2 innings, while closer Greg Johnson surrendered five runs on four hits in a season-long 4.0 innings.
"I give a lot of credit to Florida Atlantic... their kids really swung the bats the last couple of days," Head Coach Steve Kittrell said. "We just had too many walks again today. It's disappointing because we were playing really good baseball up until Saturday and Sunday. (Beliveau) was really on top of his game and he is pretty good when that happens."
South Alabama plays its next six contests on the road beginning Tuesday night with a two-game series against Ole Miss. The Jaguars continue on to Little Rock, Ark., for a Sun Belt Conference weekend series with UALR before traveling to Auburn next Wednesday. The next home series is April 18-20 against preseason favorite Louisiana-Lafayette.
