May 2, 2003

Final Stats

A single by Jacksonville University's Chris Kelly in the bottom of the ninth pushed JU over No.10 Florida Atlantic University for a 7-6 win. Going into the contest, the Dolphins were tied for fifth in the conference race and upset the number one team to increase their winning streak to seven. JU improves to 24-22, 15-13 A-Sun, while FAU falls to 37-11, 21-7 A-Sun.

Evan Brannon (St. Petersburg, FL) reached base in his first two at bats with singles through the middle and scored FAU's first two runs on an RBI single by Rusty Brown in the first and a Derek Hutton RBI double down the left field line to give the conference leaders and early 2-0 advantage. Brown's hit extended his hitting streak to 12 this season.

Rob Horst extended his hit streak to nine with a home run over the left field fence to add to the FAU lead. Robert Orton put a scare in JU starter Dennis Robinson again in the fourth as another deep ball to left field fell short at the warning track as Chad Hauseman slide along the wall to make the catch.

Danny Core was in a rhythm as he struck out six through the first four innings and struck out the side in the fourth. The fifth inning wasn't as friendly to the senior pitcher as JU took a 4-3 lead after he allowed three walks, two hits and hit a batter with a pitch.

Robinson did not retire an FAU batter via a strikeout until the sixth inning but picked up three in his 7 1/3 innings of work.

Mike Cox recorded his first hit of the game in the eighth inning and tied the game at four as pinch runner Matt Ryan scored with the single through the left side. With runners on second and third with only one out, senior Rob Horst increased his RBI total to 33 with a sacrifice fly to center field. Cox, who started the play at second, advanced to third as he tagged up on the fly ball and would end up scoring on a throwing error by the center fielder Rob Hudson as Florida Atlantic took a two run lead.

The Dolphins tied it up in the bottom half of the inning as two FAU errors proved costly. Donald Brickle, who entered in the eighth, recorded his first hit in A-Sun play this season with a two-run double to left centerfield to tie the game at six off of FAU reliever Chris Saxton. Saxton would eventually take the loss and fall to 3-3 after he threw 2 1/3 innings.

Saxton worked into the ninth and recorded one out before he allowed a single to second baseman Larry Best-Berfet. Senior left-hander, James Callahan entered and threw a wild pitch to advance Best-Berfet to second base. He then walked Hudson before Chris Kelly picked up a game-winning single to center field as Best-Berfet advanced to home and avoided the tag of Robert Orton as Jacksonville took the 7-6 victory.

Josh Deel improves to 3-4 after he pitched 1 2/3 innings and struck out two.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday in a 1 pm doubleheader. Left-hander Randy Beam and Travis NeSmith will face JU's Donald Brickle and Darren Truty.