Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
Troy
Arata's Ninth Inning Homer Lifts Florida Atlantic
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2008
BOCA RATON, FL - Nick Arata's sixth home run of the year couldn't have come at a more opportune time- a ninth inning blast that easily cleared the left-centerfield fence which allowed Florida Atlantic to walk away with a 6-5 victory over Troy in the opening game of a pivotal Sun Belt Conference series at FAU Stadium.
Florida Atlantic (20-11; 9-5 SBC) has won four-straight and can jump ahead of second-place Troy (20-14; 9-4 SBC) in the league standings with a series sweep over the Trojans this weekend.
Arata went 4-for-4 and scored three of FAU's six runs.
Troy led 5-3 at the seventh inning stretch, but closer Josh Storm (2-1) blew his second save this week, throwing a tying wild pitch in the eighth and allowing Arata to drive an 0-1 pitch deep into the night which ended the game with nobody out in the FAU ninth.
Florida Atlantic's offense hit into three double plays and had trouble backing starter Mickey Storey with enough runs to allow its ace the victory in his longest outing of the season. Storey allowed just five hits and fanned four in eight complete innings.
Both starting pitchers eclipsed the 100-pitch mark. Troy right-hander Tom Wheeler surrendered 10 hits before he was lifted in the seventh following a two-out RBI single by Jeremy Griffiths which made the score 5-4, and issuing Mike McKenna a walk that loaded the bases.
Troy's 145-pound lefty reliever Jordan Mathers struck out Travis Ozga to end the FAU threat in the seventh but was pulled immediately in the eighth after William Block doubled off the wall in right-center to put FAU in position to tie the game.
Storm was summoned from the bullpen after a Tom Hatcher single moved Block to third. The wild pitch moments later evened the game at 5-5.
FAU senior Brett Cannon (1-1) worked a quick top of the ninth, and was the winning pitcher, benefiting from Arata's heroics in front of nearly 500 FAU supporters in Boca Raton.
GAME NOTES: SS Nick Arata's 4-for-4 night upped his season average from .388 to .411, which now leads the club... His homerun against Troy closer Josh Storm was the first allowed this year in 22 innings by Storm, who is among the SBC leaders in saves with seven... Arata, 1B Travis Ozga, OF Mike McKenna and RH Glen Troyanowski were recently selected as NCBWA All-America candidates... Friday night's game with Troy was FAU's first home game since concluding its longest scheduled road trip of the season, an eight-game swing that began March 27... FAU has yet to play an extra-inning game in 2008.
