Photo by JC Riley Owls beat Forham 8-6 in Season Opener David Wilson’s clutch hit, the go-ahead triple in the sixth inning, help secure the win as Florida Atlantic beat Forham 8-6 on Friday. Whatever pregame jitters Coach Mac might have felt were short lived. Sophomore starter Mike Gipson provided a great start by retiring his first three batters – two by strikeouts. The Owls offense provide some relief of its own when Travis Ozga recorded the first hit of the season, followed by a three-run home run by Tom Hatcher in his first at bat, adding a second digger in his second at bat of the evening later on. Forham answered with three runs in the top of the second to tie the ball game. The few lapses by the Owls defenders did allow Forham to rally and chase the Owls starter in the fourth, after Gipson threw 26 pitches allowing the Rams to push three runs across the plate to take a short lived 6-4 lead. Gipson pitched 3 2/3 innings, striking out six, while allowing five hits and six runs, two of them earned. Alex Pepe came on in relief to pitch three solid innings, shutting down the Forham offense by retiring all ten of the Rams batters he faced and the team seemed to finally settle down and play solid baseball the rest of the way. Newcomer Nick DelGuidice could not have envisioned a better start as an Owl. He led all players with three hits and was inches of going 4-4 in his first game as an Owl, on a ball pulled deep into the left field corner, ruled fouled. Hugh Adams worked a scoreless ninth to earn a save and help preserve Coach Mac’s first victory as a head coach after serving 18 years as an assistant for the Owls. Final Stats
