Holden Capps in the middle of delivering a pitch. Photo by Chris Crews.
The Charlotte 49ers (15-18, 5-7 C-USA) defeated the No. 12 ranked team in the country, Florida Atlantic Owls, 7-6 in 15 innings Sunday afternoon behind a 15-hit performance and excellent pitching out of the bullpen from Holden Capps. The 49ers leave Boca Raton with a C-USA series win over the formally top team in the conference and record their longest game in Charlotte history.
The 49ers did not look great coming out of the gate Sunday afternoon as Josh Maciejewski got the start on the mound, giving up four runs in the bottom of the first inning on three FAU hits. This inning proved to be the only struggle for the lefty for Charlotte, allowing just two hits throughout the rest of his six innings on the mound.
Drew Ober led off the top of the second for the 49ers, singling to right field, being moved over to second base after a single from Derek Fritz to right. Hunter Jones attempted to just move a couple runners into scoring position, but found his way to first base after a throwing error from the FAU pitcher, scoring Ober from second.
Reece Hampton smacked a double down the left field line, scoring Fritz and Jones to get Charlotte within one run. The 49ers were not finished scoring just yet, as Brett Netzer singled to right field, scoring Hampton and tying the game up at four.
After Logan Sherer walked, T.J. Nichting joined the hit party in the second with a single of his own, bringing in Netzer to give Charlotte a 5-4 lead at the end of the inning.
Both Maciejewski and the Owls’ starter, Sean Labsan, settled in over the next few innings after giving up one big inning a piece early in their appearances.
Charlotte posted a run in the top of the fifth after a two-out triple from Zach Jarrett, scoring on a wild pitch with Fritz up at the plate, giving the 49ers a 6-5 lead.
Philip Perry got the call out of the bullpen, walking three batters in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing one run on just one hit, tying the game up at six.
The junior college transfer Holden Capps entered the game in the eighth inning for Perry, helping Charlotte get out of a bases loaded jam and keep the game tied.
Extra innings were going to to be needed to settle the series winner in Boca Raton, Fla.
Charlotte threatened to take the lead in the top of the tenth where they loaded the bases, but were unable to bring the winning run across.
Capps (3-0, 1.99 ERA) pitched almost perfect baseball over the next seven innings, giving up just two hits in extras, striking out six Owl batters on 80 pitches.
The fifteenth inning proved to be the inning that Charlotte needed to put them on top of the No. 12 ranked Owls, as Eddie Hull led off the frame with a single through the left side of the infield. Luke Gibbs laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Hull into scoring position, bringing up the freshman superstar, Hampton.
Hampton kept his hitting streak alive, singling up the middle to bring in Hull for the winning run.
Capps struck out the first batter in the bottom of the fifteenth and got the last two batters to ground out, giving Charlotte a 7-6 game three victory over FAU.
This game against the Owls is now the longest game in Charlotte baseball history.
The 49ers will host North Carolina A&T Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m., looking to keep the momentum going at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium.
Zach Jarrett supporting a variety of hair styles. Photo by Chris Crews.