BOCA RATON, Fla. (Interstat) — Eddie Copper pitched four shutout innings to help the Charlotte 49ers hold off a late Florida Atlantic Owls rally and earn a 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon at FAU Baseball Stadium in an American Athletic Conference series finale.

Copper, a right-hander who had struggled in his previous outing against Texas-San Antonio, allowed no hits and one earned run while striking out five over four innings. He exited with a 5-0 lead after the top of the fifth inning. The performance was a sharp turnaround from his April 17 start, when he surrendered seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Charlotte built its advantage early. In the top of the first inning, Todd Hudson singled, Adrian Jimenez was hit by a pitch and Cody Gunderson walked to load the bases. Dylan Koontz walked to force in the first run, and Spencer Nolan ground out to the pitcher brought home another. The 49ers added a run in the top of the seventh on a groundout by Jimenez and a sacrifice fly from Koontz produced another. Koontz finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

The 49ers collected 11 hits but grounded into three double plays, limiting their ability to extend the lead further. Florida Atlantic’s Brayden Gilson threw 3 2/3 innings of relief, allowing three hits and no earned runs with two strikeouts. Reliever Reilly Witmer allowed two hits in one scoreless inning.

Florida Atlantic got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. After Charlotte starter Copper was replaced by Adam Stanton, Brando Leroux walked and scored on a double by Nicholas Romano. A fielding error by shortstop Adrian Jimenez allowed Romano to score, cutting the lead to 5-2.

Stanton struck out five over 4 1/3 innings but allowed two runs, one unearned, on no hits with two walks. He gave way to Joseph Taylor in the ninth.

The Owls mounted a dramatic rally in the bottom of the ninth. With Charlotte leading 5-2, Xavier Moronta pinch-hit and singled to third base. Marshall Lipsey reached on a fielder’s choice, and Romano followed by launching a two-run home run to right field, scoring Lipsey and making the score 5-4. Michael Perazza singled and Collier Ian reached on a throwing error by third baseman Cody Gunderson, putting runners at first and second with one out. But Taylor struck out John Martinez and Patrick Ward swinging to end the game, earning his first save of the season.

Romano finished 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for Florida Atlantic. The Owls had nine hits but left seven runners on base.

The series victory gave Florida Atlantic a 21-22 record overall, while Charlotte improved to 20-23. The two teams split the three-game weekend set after the Owls won the first two games, 9-4 on Saturday and 3-1 on Friday.

Charlotte next travels to Liberty on April 28 before returning home to host Tulane. Florida Atlantic visits Florida Gulf Coast on April 28 before a weekend series at South Florida.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Florida Atlantic 5, Charlotte 1, and its ELO system gave the Owls a 50.60 percent probability to win.