Alexander throws complete game

Florida Atlantic earned a series victory over UALR on Sunday afternoon with an 11-1 win in seven innings over the Trojans at the FAU Baseball Stadium.  The game ended due to the mercy rule after FAU went up by 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“These guys have a lot of heart and a lot of character,” said head coach John McCormack.  “I love this team, they do everything right and they understand the importance of what is going on.”

The Owls (11-7, 4-2) struck for two runs in the second after back-to-back hits by Dan Scheffler and Colby Gratton led off the inning.  Nick DelGuidice recorded his 21st RBI of the season with a sac fly to center and Eddie Cassidy followed with an RBI double to give FAU a 2-0 lead.

FAU tacked on three more runs in the fourth.  After loading the bases, Raymond Church crushed a first-pitch fastball deep into the left field corner to plate all three runs and give the Owls a 5-0 lead.

After UALR (13-8, 1-5) struck back for one run the top of the seventh, the Owls ended play with a six run bottom half of the inning to finalize the game.  On Sundays in conference play, if a team leads by 10 runs or more through seven innings, the game is officially over.

“I was proud of them coming back and finishing the series strong after Friday’s loss,” McCormack said.

Kevin Alexander (2-2) bounced back to earn his second victory of the season with a solid pitching performance.  The freshman pitched a complete game and gave up five hits and one earned run with one walk and two strikeouts.

“He gave us more than we expected, it worked out great,” McCormack said.  “We only wanted him to go three innings, we had bullpen arms rested, but he pitched to contact today and went the distance.”

The Owls will return to action on Tuesday as they begin a two-game series against Cornell.  First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

Post Game Comments

Series Discussion

Mike Gipson struck out 10 Trojans en route to the complete game in a 11-0 shutout.

Gipson tosses complete game shutout

Florida Atlantic’s Mike Gipson enjoyed a first on Saturday afternoon – a complete game shutout – as the Owls roared past UALR 11-0 in Boca Raton.

Gipson (1.80 ERA), who struck out a season high 10 batters, improves to 4-0 on the season and has Coach McCormack thinking about Friday service for the right hander.

“That will be discussed and hashed over starting Sunday night”, said John McCormack. “He’s killing it in the Saturday hole, and I don’t know if we want to mess with it.”

The Owls have yet to win a Friday game at home, and Gipson say’s that he is up for the challenge.

“Whatever day I’m throwing, whether it’s midweek or whatever, I’m going to do the same thing I’ve been doing and just go out there and compete.”

After scoring 16 runs last night against the Owls, The Trojans (13-7, 1-4) were blanked for just the second time this season.

FAU (10-7, 3-2) scored their first run in the 2nd inning after an Anthony Mesa steal attempt drew a throw to second, and allowed catcher Mike Albaladejo to cross the plate from third.

The Owls picked up another six runs in the fourth inning on five hits including a two out bases loaded single by Nick Delguidice.

FAU added four more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh as Andy Mee and Colby Gratton each smacked home runs.

“After last night, we had intensity today, which we needed”, said John McCormack. “Certainly played well and happy we won.”

The Trojans, who led the Sun Belt defensively entering the weekend series, committed a season high three errors on the afternoon.

The teams will meet for game three tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Kevin Alexander (1-2, 7.85) will get the start for the Owls, while the Trojan starter is yet to be announced.

FAU (16-16) lost to Ohio State 4-0 in its first game on Saturday. Ohio State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when they scored on a passed ball.  The Buckeyes added three runs in the sixth inning for the final margin. Amber Jones and Kirstin Austin had hits for the Owls in the game.

The Owls defeated Long Island 1-0 in nine innings in the nightcap. Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning, but neither was able to push across a run. FAU threatened again in the fourth with consecutive one-out hit, but failed to score.

The game went into extra innings with the teams locked in a scoreless tie. The international tiebreaker went into effect in the eighth, but neither team capitalized on the extra assistance and went to the ninth tied 0-0. After Kathryn Stauffer retired the Blackbirds in order without allowing a run, the Owls came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Hailey Broyles sacrificed Ambar Jones over to third to put the winning run 60 feet away with just one out. Diandra Fernandez popped to first to bring Kerri Croney to the plate. Croney smacked a single to left that drove in Jones to win the game for the Owls. Stauffer pitched her seventh complete game of the season to win her team-best sixth game.

FAU wraps up action at the USF-The Game Invitational on Sunday when it plays Dartmouth at 11 a.m.

FAU hurlers hit a program record eight batters

Florida Atlantic looked to establish some momentum in their Sun Belt Conference home opener while taking on Arkansas Little-Rock (13-6, 1-3) on Friday night.

Instead, they set a season record for the most batters hit by pitch, and fell by a final score of 16-6.

“If you’re in baseball this long, these nights are going to happen,” John McCormack said.  “The good news is that the scoreboard gets turned off and you start all over tomorrow.”

The Owls (9-7, 2-2) got off to a rocky start when Taylor Everist (1-4) gave up six hits and four runs in just 1/3 inning of play. Florida Atlantic (9-7, 2-2) posted two runs in the bottom of the fifth behind singles by Anthony Mesa and Raymond Church to make it 4-2.

The Trojans then scored three in the sixth, but an Eddie Cassidy single brought FAU to within three runs at 7-4.

However, a four run seventh and five run eighth was too much to overcome for the Owls as the Trojans picked up their first conference win on the year.

UALR’s Jake Rowell went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBI.

The teams meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m. Mike Gipson (3-0, 2.42) will be on the mound for the Owls and will face Daniel Golden (1-0, 4.96) of UALR.

The Owls split their two games at the USF Invitational on Friday.

FAU beat Syracuse 6-4 in its first game of the day. The Owls scored four runs in the first inning with Kerri Croney, Rose Gressley and Brittany Walker all providing RBIs. Syracuse answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut FAU’s lead in half. The Orange scored another run and had the tying run on base in the second to chase Amber Barton from the game.  Taylor Fawbush came on in relief and was able to end the threat without allowing the tying run.

Syracuse eventually tied the score in the fifth inning on an RBI base hit by Kelly Saco. Jessica Myers led off the sixth inning with a ground rule double and advanced on a Walker sacrifice before stealing home to regain the lead for FAU 5-4. The Owls added an insurance run in the seventh Blair Bodenmiller drove in Kirstin Austin with a base hit to center. Fawbush allowed a one-out single in the seventh before a double play ended the game for her fifth win of the year.

FAU lost to Illinois 9-0 in its second game. The Owls fell behind early when Illinois scored three runs in the second inning, followed with two runs in third, fourth and fifth innings. Blair Bodenmiller had the only hit of the game with a ground rule double in the second inning.

FAU continues at the USF Invitational on Saturday when they will play Ohio State and Long Island at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.