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OWL’S BASEBALL TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM CINCY

2/21/2010 -- Getting FAU on the board quickly in the first inning was Owls left fielder Colby Gratton, who hit a two run homerun. Gratton also went two for four in his leadoff spot. On first was full time catcher and sophomore Mike Albaledejo. Albaladejo hasn’t missed a step and fell right into form in this 3rd game of this three game opening set. Going two for three, scoring a run, walking, creating four RBI and throwing six putouts reads a complete game from the backstop. An even distribution of effort and will on the defensive and offensive side were evident from a statistical point of view.

 

With the momentum safely in place, the Owls went on to score 7 more runs to zero against the Bearcats. Run support is always important to a team. Pitchers may feel as if a burden has been taken from them at times. This game had everything any fan would want to have. Pitching a six inning gem, first year FAU Owl Kevin Alexander was nearly flawless from the mound. This produced a home team win. Mr. Alexander is certainly making a great impression on the Coaching staff, with his performance Sunday at FAU stadium in Boca Raton. Coach McCormack was asked what is an important aspect of teamwork, he resoundingly said “pitching, pitching, and pitching.” Perhaps pitching will be a Hallmark for the 2010 season. McCormack has prepared his team with 30 and 40 practices while getting ready for the season.

After the conclusion of the first inning, the Owls added one run in each of the next two innings, and 5 in the fifth. In that five run fifth there were four hits tallied, and first year first Baseman Dan Scheffler knocked one over the fence, and batted two for four. Centerfielder Anthony Mesa went 2 for 3 with two RBI while Andy Mee went two for five and crossed the plate once. For tickets you may call the FAU Box office at 1-866-FAU-OWLS  They are Open: Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm You can reach them by FAX: 561-297-3963.
Archived Articles for 2009

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY TAKES IT IN 9TH
May 12th, 2009 - Cranking his 16th Home Run of the year, FAU DH Tom Hatcher eclipses the bases rapidly. That’s the way Tom does it, with no signs of hubris - modest as ever, Hatcher crossed the plate ready for more. The Owls used 10 pitchers in the game, most times they go with eight. Nothing to unusual except for the fact that Junior Kenny Gray made his first start since 2006. Gray has been hurt, and most recently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He may have struggled, giving up a couple of runs in his first start in three years, but Coach John McCormack smartly chose a meaningless game for Sun Belt Conference purposes. You see, FAU is fighting it out for eighth place, to get into the SBC Tournament which leads to the College World Series.
Coach McCormack must also be happy with the exploits of David Wilson, who hit yet another home run (6) at home and went 2-for-4. His counterpart, Hatcher also went 2-for-4 as did all around 2B/P/IF/OF William Block. Block also pitched the last inning against Florida Gulf Coast College. Catcher Mike Albaladejo also went 2-for-3. 21 FAU players had a showing in the game. FGCU presented 15.
FGCU Centerfielder Josh Upchurch and Zach Maxfield went 2-for-4, while DH Brad Roberts went 4-for-5. Shortstop Steven Wickens also went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Accepting a walk in the 9th, the Eagles scored the go ahead run like this:

Florida Gulf Coast 9th - Wilson to lf. Mesa to cf. MAXFIELD struck out
swinging (0-2). Pepe to p for Adams. CHESTER hit by pitch (3-2). Garton to p
for Pepe. WICKENS singled to center field (1-1); CHESTER advanced to second.
ROBERTS singled to right field (0-1); WICKENS advanced to second; CHESTER
advanced to third. GREENE walked, RBI (3-2); ROBERTS advanced to second;
WICKENS advanced to third; CHESTER scored. Burkhalter to 2b for Hatcher. Block
to p. / for Garton. GUARNACCIA struck out looking (1-2). UPCHURCH grounded out
to ss (3-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

With a fresh arm, Craig Crumbly came into the bottom of the ninth and got FAU to put the ball on the ground and in the air where the FGCU defense took over. Even despite the pass given to Sean Bukovich, Crumbly was able to gather himself for the last three outs.
TWO HOME RUN SWINGS (see side panel) & TWO MORE TO GO
May 14th, 2009 - Including two swings of the bat from Travis Ozga and David Wilson (see side panel), the Owls collect game 1 in the three game weekend series which are must wins for FAU. In order to qualify for the Sun-Belt Tournament, FAU will need to hold on for the next to games to probable tournament fourth seed Florida International University. The hit parade was in full effect for the Owls this night.

William Block and David Wilson each had three hits, including 1 homerun each. Jeremy Griffiths went 2-for-5, Ozga went deep to right for his 5th round tripper, catcher Nick Criaris went 2-for-5, and Nick DelGuidice plus Troy Bubley each got a hit. FAU scored 4 alone in the first inning, got 1-2-1-1 in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th inning respectively. FIU collected 10 hits of their own. Lamar Guy hit hit 5th homerun of the year for the Golden Panthers. 

Senior Adam Morrison (5 innings pitched, 2 strikeouts) gets the win, and pitching in releif, Mike Gipson (4 innings pitched, 6 strikeouts) gets the save. Tom Ebert threw 5 innings for FIU, Scott Rembisz and Aaron Arboleya each threw 2 and 1 innings.

Below is the scoring line of the 4 run first inning for FAU.

Florida Atlantic 1st - Wilson singled up the middle (3-2). Griffiths
singled through the left side (0-0); Wilson advanced to second. Hatcher hit by
pitch (2-2); Griffiths advanced to second; Wilson advanced to third. Ozga out
at first 1b to p, RBI (2-2); Hatcher advanced to second; Griffiths advanced to
third; Wilson scored. Block singled to left field, 2 RBI (0-0); Hatcher scored;
Griffiths scored. Criaris singled to right field (1-2); Block advanced to
third. DelGuidice struck out swinging (0-2); Criaris stole second. Bubley
singled up the middle, RBI (2-2); Criaris advanced to third; Block scored.
Bubley out at first p to 1b, picked off. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
 FAU FINDS MTSU LEAD TO LARGE TO OVERCOME
May 20th, 2009 - With game one behind them, the Owls look to the game 2 against FIU tomorrow at 9 am in Troy, Alabama. FAU just may have a mental edge over FIU as they took 2-out-3 from the Golden Panthers last weekend. Add to this the loss today from FIU against Louisiana-Lafayette, and you may have a potion for possible success in tomorrows rubber match.

As for the game against #1 MTSU, there were some bright spots for FAU. Catcher Mike Albaladejo was stellar behind the plate and went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Travis Ozga also hit a solo shot on the first pitch in the fourth inning off of Kenneth Roberts who colected the win. Others include David Wilson who went 1-for-4 and Joey Burkhalter who went 1-for-3. The second baseman took the place of Owls stalwart William Block who could not play the game. A number of errors noted and others not for FAU included DelGuidice and Bukovich. Although Barry Rooks took the loss, he threw three strikeouts and only four pitchers went for FAU. Most times they go with an average of 5 or more, but I suspect they limited their pitchers for the subsequent rubber match against FIU tomorrow. Smart Managing by hedging bets when the odds are in your favor may be the strategy here for John McCormack and his Owls.  

MTSU had outstanding production from their battery. They include third baseman Rawley Bishop who went 4-for-5 with 3 rins and 1 RBI, PH Zach Dean who went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 1 run, first baseman Blake McDade's 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, Drew Robertson, Tyler Burnett and Taylor Dennis who all went 1-for-3 with a combined 2/2-RBI/Runs.
 OWLS FLY THROUGH: RE-MATCH WITH MTSU SET FOR FRIDAY
May 20th, 2009 - What will have FAU learned from their last game with MTSU that will help them in their elimination game on Friday? Maybe the Blue Raiders don’t sleep well with the 9 A.M. start. Don’t forget, the Owls have a game right after MTSU they must win to launch them into the Championship. Without the services of William Block, who could be the MVP of the team – how does FAU manage to take another from FIU today?
 Enter Jeremy Griffiths, whose 3-for-5 effort today, plus five RBI and Home Run place him among the top performers the past two weeks. Someone should’ve known something when Griffiths entered the HR contest in Troy this week. Perhaps something was going right for the lefty.  Hitting .436 in the last nine games with four dingers to boot, Griffiths was quoted as saying "For the first time this season I feel like my swing is where it needs to be to help this team." You can bet MTSU is getting wind of the remarkable right fielder.
 In addition to Griffiths, David Wilson went 3-for-6 with 3 runs and 1 RBI. DH Tom Hatcher also went 3-for-5 crossing the plate 3 times.  Travis Ozga and Nick DelGuidice both went 2-for-5 with a combined 6 RBI and 3 runs. Third Baseman Sean Bukovich went 3-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI, and Anthony Mesa went 1-for-3 while Mike Albaledejo went 1-for-5. Mike Gipson was solid behind the mound throwing the whole game with 7 strikeouts and 125 pitches. What a bonus for John McCormack as he only has to use 1 pitcher in the game. Gipson is a horse and a diamond in the rough, we as FAU Owl fans are lucky to have him.
 Here’s the breakdown of the six run 4th:

Florida Atlantic 4th - Albaladejo reached on a dropped fly by lf,
advanced to second (2-2). Griffiths doubled to left center, RBI (0-0);
Albaladejo scored, unearned. Hatcher singled to center field (3-2); Griffiths
advanced to third. Ozga tripled down the rf line, 2 RBI (2-2); Hatcher scored;
Griffiths scored. Berkowitz to p for Ebert. Bubley flied out to lf (3-2).
DelGuidice homered to right field, 2 RBI (0-0); Ozga scored. Bukovich singled
to right field (0-1). Bukovich advanced to second on a passed ball. Mesa
singled to center field, RBI (2-2); Bukovich scored. Wilson reached on a
fielder's choice (2-2); Mesa out at second 2b to ss. Albaladejo popped up to 1b
(2-0). 6 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

OWLS BREAK WKU 16 GAME HOME WIN STREAK BEHIND ADAM MORRISON
Adam Morrison threw 6 2/3 innings as FAU was able put together two runs in the 7th propelling them to a 3-1 win. Morrison, now 2-2 on the year gets the notch while Glen Troyanowski collects the save, his sixth on the year. A series of 5’s, Morrison gave up 5 hits and handed out 5 strikeouts, with 5 base on balls. He got most batters to ground out and pop up. Solid defense also supported the 22 year old senior from Englewood, CO. The win shuts down the 16 game win streak the Hilltoppers were on at home. FAU keeps their own streak alive at 7 games. The series continues with a 4 p.m. game Saturday afternoon. The game will be televised live on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS).


POST GAME ANALYSIS FAU vs. UAB

 

 

1

2

F

FAU (4-8)

15

28

43

UAB (8-3)

40

36

76

 

8:00 PM ET, December 22, 2008

Bartow Arena

Birmingham, AL

 

UAB jumped out to a seven point lead at 17:49 and within the first four possessions of the game. They took that lead out to a 21 point advantage before FAU scored on a Carlos Monroe jumper to cut the lead to 19, at 5:54 remaining in the first half. Monroe was only able to muster eight points for 35 minutes in the game. He was also responsible for eight turnovers and four steals. At the end of the half, UAB had a 25 point lead 41-15. FAU shot .28.6% from the field and .15% from three point land. They shot however, .80% from the free throw line, good for eight points. They also managed 24 rebounds, three of which were offensive. Coach Mike Jarvis took advantage of his two TV timeouts, but took none besides this during the first half. At the half, down 25 points – one might wonder why.

 

Coming right out of the half, Brett Royster made a two point dunk shot. Then Graham knocked down a three pointer to cut the lead to 24 at 15:48. Graham followed this with back-to-back baskets and scored a team high 16 points. All other FAU players scored under double digits for the game. FAU got seven points from the bench, and three players from the bench who got 19 minutes combined, scored zero points. Tied with starters Alex Tucker and Brett Royster, Shavar Richardson had five points from the bench, and gathered three rebounds. UAB pulled ahead again, this time collecting a 27 point lead thrice, at 44-17, 47-20 and 49-22. UAB took a 31 point lead at 8:31, and their greatest lead was thirty-six with three seconds remaining. UAB took advantage of the TV breaks in addition to taking a thirty second timeout. Coach Mike Jarvis did not take advantage of any timeouts except for the TV breaks. UAB had .53.2% from the field, and scored 26 points from the bench. Fifty points came out of the starters. There is a theme with teams that win, and that is the production from their bench. Howard Crawford came off the bench to score a team high 10. For starter Paul Delaney III, scoring sixteen was supported with his .78% from the field and 100% from the free throw line. Lawrence Kinnard  gathered a team high 12 rebounds, and Aaron Johnson had 5 steals.