FAU’s Caleb Pendleton discusses making history

FAU’s Caleb Pendleton discusses making history

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The 18-year-old freshman talks two grand slam night with Man On Second Baseball

By Joe Frisaro/Man On Second Baseball

Florida Atlantic University catcher Caleb Pendleton battled a case of butterflies before stepping to the plate in the first inning on Saturday night against the University of Central Florida.

Before the first inning ended, the 18-year-old freshman’s name was gaining national attention.

Caleb Pendleton

“Going into the weekend, I never would have imagined this happening to me,” Pendleton told Man On Second Baseball on Monday.

Pendleton had a collegiate debut for the ages, belting two grand slams in the first inning of his first game at FAU. Literally, his first two at-bats produced two home runs and eight RBIs.

The two no-doubt shots came 14-minutes apart in a 12-run inning. FAU went on to win, 20-15, and Pendleton gained overnight attention, making national news.

Collegiate Baseball named Pendleton its National Player of the Week. His rare accomplishment was featured on ESPN, MLB.com and numerous media outlets.

“It’s kind of surreal that it actually happened,” Pendleton said. “I didn’t know how rare it was until after it happened. My teammates were surrounding me, supporting me. It’s been really cool.”

As comfortable as Pendleton looked at the plate, the freshman from Jensen Beach was amped up inside.

“Everybody knew that I was pretty nervous before the game,” Pendleton said. “After it happened, they were like, ‘Why are you nervous? You’re totally fine.’ After the second one, they were kind of shocked that it happened.

“They were like, ‘What’s going on? You actually hit two grand slams in one inning. It was almost like they were shocked a little bit when I went back to the dugout after the second one.”

What’s also mildly shocking is, prior to Saturday, Pendleton had never hit a grand slam at any level.

“In high school, I only hit one home run my junior year,” he said. “It’s kind of new to me.”

According to a release sent by FAU’s sports information department, at the college level, hitting two grand slams in one inning has been achieved just seven times since 1976. It’s only been done once in MLB history, by Fernando Tatis Sr., while with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 23, 1999, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Even after the game, I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal,” Pendleton said. “It’s pretty cool to get this attention. I’m just trying to keep myself humble and keep striving to get better every day.”

The first home run came on a hanging curveball. Pendleton stayed on the pitch and drove it over the wall in left field.

Sitting fastball

Second time up, Pendleton jumped on a first-pitch fastball, and deposited the ball over the wall in left-center.

“I was kind of looking dead-red fastball,” he said. “I got a fastball. I kind of took advantage of it.”

As a senior at Jensen Beach High School in 2020, Pendleton played in just 11 games, and hit .452 with 10 RBIs before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Because of the pandemic, the MLB Draft was reduced to five rounds, which made his decision to attend FAU an easy one.

“Going into my senior year, I had a good start before I got cut short with COVID,” Pendleton said. “I was talking with some teams after COVID, and they didn’t know what they were doing. With only five rounds, it was a little tough.

“I don’t regret anything about coming to FAU. I’m really happy. I wouldn’t change anything about coming here. I’m excited that I’m at FAU, and I’m doing my best to help this team win.”

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