Owls fall 12-3 vs. So. Miss

FAU now awaits NCAA berth.

The Florida Atlantic baseball team entered the Conference USA Tournament with hopes of improving its NCAA resume.

Even though the Owls failed to win the tourney, they appeared to accomplish their goal. They fell short of winning the first tournament title in school history by losing to Southern Mississippi, 12-3, in the conference title game Sunday, but likely did enough to earn an atlarge berth in the posteason.

“We were kind of hoping we could catch lightning in a bottle,” FAU coach John McCormack said. “They just had too much firepower. Congratulations to them. I thought there guys pitched great.”

After staving off elimination twice on Saturday, the Owls were unable to sustain their magic. They played from behind most of the way against Southern Mississippi, the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

The Golden Eagles grabbed the early lead on a two-run, two-out homer by center fielder Matt Wallner off FAU pitcher Nick Prather. They increased the advantage to 4-0 in the second when Bryant Bowen crushed another two-run homer.

That signaled the end for Prather, who allowed four hits and four runs in 1 1⁄3 innings. The Owls were held scoreless until Gunnar Lambert had a three-run homer in the seventh

that pulled them to within 5-3. The rally was short lived as, and the Golden Eagles responded with a solo home run by Gabe Montenegro and an RBI single by Nate Keating in the bottom half of the inning.

“I thought we had a good run here, though I wish it would have ended different,” McCormack said. “But, hey, give credit to them.”

Even in defeat, the Owls have probably done enough to still clinch a berth in the postseason. They finished the season with 40 wins and are ranked No. 31 in the latest RPI ratings.