FAU (8-3) started its weekend series against Monmouth University (2-2) with an 8-4 victory on Friday, March 4 in Boca Raton.
The Hawks were the first to score in the first inning, leading 1-0, but the Owls came out of the first by scoring seven runs.
Those seven runs in the bottom of the first began when first baseman Dan Scheffler hit a sacrifice fly ball to center field that brought catcher Mike Albaladejo to the plate. Following an RBI single by left fielder Alex Hudak, short stop Nick DelGiudice and center fielder Colby Gratton both drove in two-run RBIs to make the score 6-1. Monmouth was sitting on two outs, but the Owls weren’t done scoring as second baseman Raymond Church came in to bat for the second time in the inning. Church brought Gratton home on an RBI single while also extending his hitting streak to 20 games, just four shy of the FAU record.
Monmouth managed to score one run the next inning on an RBI single from shortstop Steve Sanguiliano, but FAU starting pitcher Ryan Garton didn’t allow any more runs after that as he pitched quick three-out innings. Garton pitched seven innings allowing only three hits, two runs, three walks, and struck out eight batters.
FAU continued to get on base but struggled to add onto its lead as the only other score came from an RBI by DelGuidice in the bottom of the sixth.
“We scored all our runs early but I thought we had a real chance to tack on some runs in the seventh and eighth innings,” said head coach John McCormack. “But we played our behinds off till the end.”
The Hawks scored two more runs in the top of the eighth. The first came on an RBI single by right fielder Jamie Rosenkranz and the second on a wild pitch by relief pitcher Jason Boyer.
The Hawks’ rally attempt fell short, though.
Pitcher Jake Meiers came in to close the game for FAU. On the first batter, he was hit on the left knee by a ground ball.
“I was scared more than anything,” said Meiers. “It will definitely hurt in the morning.”
After an examination from the trainers, Meiers seemed to be okay and finished the game sealing the 8-4 win for FAU.
FAU will play game 2 of its three-game series against Monmouth on Saturday, March 5 at 4 p.m. in Boca Raton.
