Florida Atlantic University’s baseball team lost to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 11-8, on Friday night, April 3. The Owls recorded 15 hits but were unable to overcome UAB’s offense. The teams will meet again on Saturday for the series finale.
The outcome is significant as Florida Atlantic now has a record of 15-16 overall and 2-6 in American Athletic Conference play. A win in the next game is needed for the Owls to avoid a series sweep.
UAB took an early lead by scoring two runs in the first inning. Florida Atlantic responded with a run from freshman Jonathan Lopez and then surged ahead in the fourth inning after hits from Brett Patten, Michael Perazza, and Nick Romano made it a 4-2 game. Patten extended the lead with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
The game’s turning point came during the sixth inning when relief pitcher Zach Kilby allowed five consecutive singles after entering with runners on base. This led to seven runs for UAB and put Florida Atlantic behind, 9-5. Despite efforts from Ian Collier—who hit his fourth home run of the season—and late-game rallies that brought potential tying runs to bat, Florida Atlantic could not close the gap.
Head Coach John McCormack said: “Eight runs is good but, in a game like this, you’ve got to score more. And we had opportunities to score more; we just couldn’t do it. Ultimately, though, it comes down to finding a way to get out of that sixth inning.”
Several players stood out offensively: Eli Small went three-for-five at bat; Romano was three-for-six; Patten was three-for-four with his second home run of the season; Collier led with his fourth homer and sixth double this year; Lopez finished two-for-three with two RBI—the first of his career—and reached base four times.
On pitching duty, Kide Adetuyi struck out eight over five innings but allowed five runs on five hits before Kilby finished out four innings while conceding six more runs.
The series concludes Saturday at FAU Baseball Stadium.
