FAU’s baseball team put on a show for its season opener as the team crushed Hofstra University 12-4 on Friday, Feb. 18, in Boca Raton.
Before the game got underway the Owls received their Sun Belt Championship rings for winning the 2010 season Sun Belt Conference title.
FAU started the game slowly with starting right-handed pitcher Ryan Garton having a rough start as Hofstra took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
Garton pitched just three innings with one strikeout, one walk and four runs allowed.
Designated hitter Eddie Cassidy scored the first run for FAU in the bottom of the second on short stop Nick DelGuidice’s line-drive RBI to right field. DelGuidice continued with a productive night, going 5-5 with one run, five RBIs and one home run.
“Waiting to get here felt like forever,” said DelGuidice. “We were all fired up for this game and once we started getting into it, it all came together.”
FAU got on the board once again in the second inning as left fielder Alex Hudak scored on a sacrifice hit by catcher Mike Albaladejo. It was Hudak’s first game in an Owl uniform and he ended the night 2-3 with 3 runs and two RBIs.
Despite FAU’s efforts, Hofstra continued to hold the lead until the bottom of the fifth as once again Cassidy scored on a DelGuidice RBI to tie the game 4-4. Cassidy extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
In the bottom of the sixth, right fielder Andy Mee hit a 2-run homer to right field that stayed just fair, extending FAU’s lead to 6-4.
Hudak and DelGuidice continued to be big assets to the team’s success, as in the bottom of the seventh, DelGuidice stole second base, allowing Hudak to steal home.
In the bottom of the eighth, following an RBI by first baseman Mark Nelson, FAU scored on back-to-back doubles — the first on a Hudak 2-run RBI and the second on a DelGuidice 2-run homer to right field that sealed the Owls’ 12-4 victory.
“We wanted to win 800-to-nothing in the first inning and strike out 75 guys,” said head coach John McCormack. “There was so much excitement coming off of last season, but once the adrenaline died down, we really got our heads in the game.”
