Florida Atlantic University’s baseball team lost to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on March 14, ending a six-game winning streak with a 14-3 defeat. The teams are scheduled to play the series finale at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The game began as a pitching duel between Florida Atlantic starter Kide Adetuyi and UMBC’s Zach Robinson, with both teams missing early scoring opportunities. The Owls loaded the bases in the first inning but did not score, while UMBC left runners in scoring position during several early innings.
Adetuyi exited after four shutout innings due to a high pitch count. Tyler Murphy took over in relief and allowed one run in the fifth before Florida Atlantic tied the game at 1-1 when Nick Romano drove in Marshall Lipsey. The game’s momentum shifted in the seventh inning when UMBC scored five runs after loading the bases with no outs. Murphy was replaced by Brayden Gilson, who issued a bases-loaded walk followed by hits that extended UMBC’s lead.
Walks and hit batters continued to trouble Florida Atlantic pitchers late in the game. In total, FAU pitchers issued eight walks over the final two innings, allowing UMBC to add eight more runs despite only two hits during that stretch. Head Coach John McCormack said, “We’ve played so well the last two weeks, and now we throw a clunker in there. It’s bound to happen, but it’s still disappointing. We had our chances early. Robinson was good for them. We had our shot but couldn’t capitalize.”
Florida Atlantic finished with nine hits; Romano, Michael Perazza, and Eli Small accounted for six of those hits combined. Adetuyi struck out three and walked three over his four-inning start while allowing three hits. Eight relievers followed him on the mound for FAU, with six giving up at least one run.
The series finale has been moved up to 11 a.m. Sunday due to potential inclement weather later in the day.
