Baseball Defeats Bethune-Cookman for Sixth Consecutive Win

Wednesday, March 30

Boca Raton, Fla.

4:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

17-8

Bethune-Cookman

15-14

Bethune-Cookman

Florida Atlantic

3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 30, 2011

Final Stats

Boca Raton, Fla. -

McCormack following Bethune-Cookman
McCormack after Bethune
McCormack Continued
Scheffler following Bethune
Hudak following Bethune
Hudak Continued

Junior outfielder Alex Hudak went 5-for-5 with three runs scored to highlight a season-high 18-hit attack as the Florida Atlantic University baseball team knocked off Bethune-Cookman University 12-7 on Wednesday evening at the FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton. The win improves the Owls to 17-8 on the season and extends the winning streak to six games.

Wednesday's contest was a match up of two teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Division I Gainesville Regional.

The Owls scored in big bunches against Wildcat pitching as the team scored 12 runs in four innings. FAU pushed four runs across in the first and fifth innings while tallying three runs in the eighth inning to defeat Bethune-Cookman for the 58th time in 73 meetings in the all-time series. Wednesday's win was the 1,100 victory in program history, dating back to the inaugural 1981 season.

Hudak's first hit of the night got the scoring started with an RBI single to plate senior second baseman Raymond Church in the first inning. Later, senior first baseman Dan Scheffler lined a base hit to center field to score senior outfielder Andy Mee. That gave the Owls a quick 2-0 advantage. A throwing error allowed the third run to score, and sophomore catcher Mike Spano ground out scored Scheffler.

With the Owls leading 5-1, the team built a seven-run advantage with four runs scored in the fifth inning. Hudak was once again a part of the action scoring from first base on a RBI double down the left field line by Scheffler. That was set up after Hudak's third hit of the night. Senior shortstop Nick DelGuidice drove in Scheffler with a single to center field to give the Owls a 7-1 lead. Then with runners at second and third, junior third baseman Joey Burkhalter delivered with a two-run scoring single down the third base line to score pitch-runner Corey Keller and DelGuidice.

Bethune-Cookman made things interesting in the top of the seventh inning, scoring six runs. The big blow was Ryan Durrence's grand slam home run to cut the deficit to 9-7. Brashad Johnson and Paul Biocic each had RBI singles earlier in the frame. However that was as close as the Wildcats would get as FAU scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure its 17th home victory.

The offense was enough to make a winner out of sophomore starting pitcher Jake Meiers. He improved to 2-3 on the season, allowing one run in three innings due to a predetermined pitch count. Senior right hander Taylor Eversist threw two shutout innings while junior left hander Josh Gonzaga got the Owls out of the jam in the seventh inning. Fellow junior Hugh Adams picked up his second save of the season tossing 1.1 perfect innings to sum up the strong relief pitching performances.

Offensively, Hudak scored three times and has had a hit in eight straight plate at-bats. Scheffler went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored while senior designated hitter Eddie Cassidy was 2-for-2 at the plate. Burkhalter tallied three hits and drove in a pair of runs while Church had two RBIs in the victory.

Bethune-Cookman's Bryan Rivera suffered the loss, dropping his record to 1-2 on the season. The left hander allowed seven runs in four innings. Durrance's home run was the big hit offensively for the Wildcats which had 11 hits. Brashad Johnson had three hits while Anthony Stokes and Biocic each tallied two hits for the visitors.

FAU returns to the field on Friday, April 1, when it begins a Sun Belt Conference series on the road at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Owls are tied for first place in the league with a 5-1 mark in conference action.

Season and individual tickets of Florida Atlantic baseball games are available by calling the FAU Ticket Office at 1-866-FAU-OWLS.