First Game of Saturday Doubleheader Goes to FAU

Saturday, April 18

Boca Raton, Fla.

1:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

20-16

Bryant

26-12

Bryant

Florida Atlantic

4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 18, 2009

Final Stats

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University built up a seven-run lead and held on to beat Bryant University 12-10 in the opening game of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at FAU Stadium.

Sophomore shortstop Nick DelGuidice homered, went 2-for-4, scored three times and made an outstanding defensive play preserving a one-run FAU lead in the seventh.

Florida Atlantic (20-16) had senior teammates William Block and Alex Pepe both set FAU records in the win. Block and Colby Gratton each drove in three runs.

Bryant (26-12) fell behind by scores of 7-1, and 9-2, but would score six times in the middle innings to make things interesting in the later stages.

Four singles in the second inning produced a pair of FAU runs off Bryant starter Dan Lozeau (5-1). Then, after issuing a two-out walk, William Block drove a first-pitch offering from Lozeau deep to right-center field and over the wall for his 42nd career homerun. The homer, Block's fifth this season, put the Owls up 5-0.

Nick DelGuidice hit a two-out solo homer in the third, his second of the year, to make it 7-1.

Block continued to cement his place in the FAU record books, doubling down the left-field line in the fourth, equaling the program's all-time total for doubles in a career (51).

With the Owls enjoying a 9-2 lead in the fifth, Bryant catcher Jeff Vigurs' hit a grand slam with two-outs to get the Bulldogs back into the game. Vigurs, junior from South Windsor, Connecticut, has hit a team-leading 17 doubles, eight homers and 56 RBI.

Nick Melendres (1-0) threw 79 pitches, allowing six hits and six runs through five complete innings to become the second straight FAU starter to factor into a winning decision.

But Bryant continued slice into the lead in the sixth, singling four times off FAU reliever Ryan Bernal to plate two more, putting the game's outcome in question at 9-8.

Alex Pepe was summoned from the bullpen to pitch to Bryant in the seventh. Pepe - who has now pitched in more games than any other FAU pitcher (80) - walked the bases loaded with one-out, putting the go-ahead run on second before a terrific double play - initiated by a diving stop by DelGuidice behind the second-base bag - ended the threat.

Insurance in the form of a three-run FAU seventh fueled by a leadoff double by Tom Hatcher and a two-RBI single from Gratton gave Pepe a cushion he would need to finish off Bryant in the eighth and ninth.

GAME NOTES: William Block passed Mike McKenna (2005-08) FAU's all-time homerun list when Block hit is 42nd career homer in the second inning... Alex Pepe made his 80th career pitching appearance, which is a new FAU record, surpassing the previous FAU record for pitching appearances (80) established by Danny Core (2000-03).