Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
12-8, 0
FIU
13-7, 0
Davis' Complete Game Helps Baseball Even Series
3/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 19, 2011
Boca Raton, Fla. - Junior Paul Davis scattered seven hits and had seven strikeouts in a dazzling complete-game pitching performance that helped the Florida Atlantic University baseball team even its weekend series against rival FIU with a 4-2 victory on Saturday at the FAU Baseball Stadium.
The Owls improve to 12-8 on the season while the visiting Golden Panthers fall to 13-7 on the spring. The two teams will close out the Sun Belt Conference opening three-game set on Sunday, March 20, beginning at 1 p.m.
Davis, who turned down an opportunity to play professional baseball to join the FAU program, allowed two runs to improve to 4-0 on the season. The right hander leads the conference with a 1.64 earned run average.
Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic's offense benefitted from three home runs. The first, a solo effort by senior outfielder Andy Mee down the left field line, tied the game, 1-1, in the first inning. Then, senior second baseman Raymond Church's long ball over the left field fence gave the team a 2-1 edge. Finally, senior first baseman Dan Scheffler's first home run of the season scored Mee and pushed the host's advantage to 4-1.
That's all the offense that Davis would need. The junior from Brandon, Fla., threw 85 strikes from his 121 pitches to toss the first complete game since Mike Gipson threw a shutout against Arkansas State on May 1, 2010.
Church and Mee each tallied two hits to lead FAU's nine-hit attack. Mee's home run was his team-leading fourth on the season. Church's home run was his first hit since his school-record tying 24-game hitting streak was snapped last Friday.
Collecting one hit apiece in the balanced hitting attack were junior catcher Mike Albaladejo, senior shortstop Nick DelGuidice, junior outfielder Alex Hudak, senior outfielder Colby Gratton along with Scheffler.
FIU starting pitcher R.J. Fondon suffered the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season. He allowed four earned run in 6.1 innings. Rudy Flores tallied two hits in the Golden Panthers' seven-hit attack.
Season and individual tickets of Florida Atlantic baseball are available by calling the FAU Ticket Office at 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Davis, Paul (4-0)
L: Fondon (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Bermudez 1 ; Flores 1 ; Behar 1
RBI: Patton 1 ; Wittels 1
SF: Patton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bermudez 1 ; Behar 1
Batting:
2B: Mee, Andy 1
HR: Church, Raymond 1 ; Mee, Andy 1 ; Scheffler, Dan 1
RBI: Church, Raymond 1 ; Mee, Andy 1 ; Scheffler, Dan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Church, Raymond 1 ; Mee, Andy 2 ; Scheffler, Dan 1
CS: Church, Raymond 1
