BOCA RATON, Fla. – No. 26 Florida Atlantic rallied from an 8-1 deficit with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth and solo tallies in the sixth and eighth innings to upend UTSA, 10-8, in the Conference USA series opener on Friday night at FAU Baseball Stadium.
The Roadrunners (17-15, 6-6 C-USA) built the seven-run lead with a pair of four-run frames.
UTSA scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-1 advantage. The Roadrunners added four more in the fifth.
However, the Owls (25-8, 10-3 C-USA) sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom-half of the stanza and scored seven times to tie the game at 8-8.
A panel later, Cody Wilson hit an opposite-field homer to put FAU on top, 9-8.
The Owls capped the scoring in the eighth when Richie Nizza produced a sacrifice fly to center field, deep enough to score Eric Rivera.
Derek Craft (2-2) suffered the loss after giving up a run in the sixth inning.
Drew Peden (5-0) earned the win after tossing 2.1 scoreless panels. Zach Schneider picked up his 10th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
UTSA outhit Florida Atlantic, 12-11.
The top five hitters in the Roadrunners' lineup were a combined 9 for 23 with seven RBIs in the loss.
Bryan Arias, Tony Beam, Ben Brookover, Chase Hacker and Dylan Rock had two hits apiece. Rock also drove in a game-high three runs.
The second game of the series is scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday.
