Florida Atlantic baseball leaned on dominant pitching and timely walks to edge Miami 2-1 on Tuesday night, improving to 4-0 on the young season. Six FAU pitchers combined to hold the Hurricanes to just four hits in the low-scoring affair at home.
Miami jumped out early, capitalizing on a first-inning error, a swinging bunt, and a pair of hit batters to push across the game’s first run. FAU starter Zach Kilby responded by striking out two to escape the jam and settle in for a scoreless outing over the next three innings.
The Owls threatened multiple times, putting runners on base in the second, third, fourth, and sixth innings but failing to capitalize. That changed in the seventh, when Jake Duer led off with a double. Nick Romano and Jake Millan followed with walks to load the bases, and Ayden Garcia drew a free pass to tie the game. Later in the inning, Brando Leroux worked another walk to bring in the go-ahead run.
The FAU bullpen took care of the rest. MJ Bollinger tossed a clean eighth, striking out two, including Miami slugger Daniel Cuvet. In the ninth, Bollinger recorded the first out before giving way to Kide Adetuyi, who retired a lefty pinch hitter. Braden Ostrander was then called on for the final out, which came on a highlight-reel play by Romano. The third baseman made a backhanded stop on a sharp ground ball and fired across the diamond to seal the win.
Offensively, the Owls out-hit Miami 7-4. Duer, Martinez, and Leroux each recorded two hits, while Kyle Boylston added the seventh hit and a stolen base.
Kilby, making his first start for FAU, allowed just one hit and one unearned run in four innings. Steven Andrews covered the fifth and sixth innings, striking out one. Max Martzolf handled the seventh and earned the win, while Bollinger, Adetuyi, and Ostrander combined to close it out.
