WICHITA, Kan. -- Florida Atlantic got a pair of clutch two-out, run-scoring hits in the top of the ninth inning to surge past Wichita State, 4-2 on Friday night at Eck Stadium.
The Owls (26-23, 11-11) had a runner at first base with two outs in the ninth against WSU reliever
Brady Pacha (3-2), who had just induced a fly out that brought the Shockers one out away from going to the home half with the game tied. But third baseman Nick Romano plugged the gap in left-center with a double, scoring Brando Leroux from first base with the go-ahead run. Michael Perazza followed with an RBI single, scoring Romano for a 4-2 lead.
Garrett Grant worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to earn his second save.
Wichita State (26-24, 10-12) built an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings.
Owen Washburn cashed in a leadoff double from
Jaden Gustafson with a run-scoring ground out in the first, then
Kaleb Duncan doubled the lead by hooking a solo home run down the line in left in the second.
FAU tied the game with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third, using a pair of RBI ground balls to knot the game up at 2-2.
That was the only blemish on the ledger of Shocker starter
Matthew Cuccias, who delivered a gem of a performance. The WSU right-hander struck out a season-high eight batters, walked just two, and allowed only three hits over 7.0 innings of work.
Zach Kilby (2-1) earned the win for Florida Atlantic with 3.0 innings of scoreless relief.
The Shockers and Owls continue the series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm CT.
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