Florida Atlantic baseball began its American Conference schedule with a 4-1 loss to UTSA on March 20. The Owls managed only four hits during the game and will attempt to even the series in the second game on Saturday.
The matchup saw UTSA take an early lead with a two-out single in the first inning. Florida Atlantic’s sophomore starter James Litman responded by retiring the Roadrunners in order for two consecutive innings and stranding a runner in scoring position in the fourth. However, UTSA extended their lead with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
Florida Atlantic did not record its first hit until the fourth inning. Michael Perazza narrowed the deficit with a solo home run at the start of the sixth, marking his third home run of the season. Despite this effort, throwing errors by Florida Atlantic in the seventh allowed UTSA to regain a two-run advantage, and another run was added by UTSA in the eighth.
After Perazza’s homer, Brando Leroux contributed an infield single for Florida Atlantic’s final hit of the night. John Martinez and Ian Collier each had one hit as well. Litman took the loss after pitching five and one-third innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out seven but walking five batters. Zach Kilby finished out pitching duties for Florida Atlantic, conceding one run over two and one-third innings with three strikeouts.
Head Coach John McCormack said, “We had chances, but it seemed like anytime we put runners on, the bad at-bat rears its ugly head. We need to just take a step back and relax. Don’t try to do too much. We want to win so badly that we try to do too much.”
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 4:05 p.m., broadcast on ESPN+.
