March 20, 2008

Box Score

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic scored 21 runs -- three shy its season-high 24 - as they cruised by visiting NJIT 21-11 at FAU Stadium Thursday night in baseball action.

Florida Atlantic posted 24 runs back on March 3 against Eastern Michigan with a 24-3 victory.

The Owl's improve to 13-6 on the season recording its fourth win in a row while the Highlanders fall to 2-13 on the year.

Sophomore Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg and David Wilson both hit 3-for-5 with three runs for the Owls. Spanjer-Furstenburg hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth while Wilson, who was a single-shy a cycle, drove in five runs in the first two innings.

Junior William Block finished the night 3-for-4 with four runs and two RBI's as he has hit safely in 16 games. Block recorded two singles and two doubles as LF Jeremy Griffiths and DH Tom Hatcher followed behind hitting 2-for-3 with two RBI's.

Florida Atlantic's Tom Segedin (1-0), who was made his first career appearance on the mound, was credited with the win.

NJIT's starting pitcher PJ Saporito falls to (1-4). The Highlanders used four pitchers after Saporito was taken out in the second inning. Sophomore Chris Parenti went 1.2 innings; Bobby Wyrwa pitched two scoreless innings and was later replaced by sophomore Gio Bermudez. Freshman Steven Ace closed out the game facing three batters.

Tri-captain Matt Schlitter went 2-for-5 with three RBI's and two runs. Schlitter hit his first home run of the season in the top of the ninth driving in LF Tom Farina who reached base on a blooper over the Florida Atlantic's second baseman.

Rookie SS Matt Marotta who replaced starter Miguel Lugo in the sixth inning went 2-for-3 recording a season-high three RBI's - two coming in the top of the sixth with two outs and the bases loaded. Senior 2B Dan Morogiello went 2-for-4 with two singles.

Freshman Matt Tomczyk, who made his second start behind the plate, came up big for the Highlanders in the top of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded hitting a double into left center driving in two runs.

Florida Atlantic opened the night recording four runs in the first and tacked on a season-high 10 runs in the second combining for 14 runs and 11 hits.

NJIT put up its first runs of the game in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by RF Dom Hayes, scoring CF Ricky Petrosino. Recording the other RBI in the inning was DH Schlitter as he hit a single thru the next side of the field.

In the top of the sixth, freshman Marotta stepped up to the plate for the first time in the night and hit a two-out single thru the left field scoring two runs.

NJIT plated five runs as they batted around the order in the top of the seventh. The first two runs to cross the plate were on RBI singles by freshman Kyle McCarthy and senior Morogiello. Florida Atlantic's fourth pitcher of the night Kyle Forney found himself in trouble with the bases loaded as Tomczyk hit his first double of his career as a Highlander to the fence over Florida Atlantic's centerfielder scoring two runs.

Schlitter blasted a two-run homer over the left field fence in the top of the ninth bringing the Highlanders into double-digits with 11 runs.

The Highlanders will return to action tomorrow night when they take on Cornell at 6:30pm in the final game of the Palm Beach Challenge in West Palm Beach.