Boca Raton, Fla. – (February 28, 2025) – FAU's Trey Beard struck out 12 batters over six innings to lead the Owls to a 7-2 win over the Fordham Rams on Friday night at FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida.
Fordham (2-7) opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. After
Reid Lapekas reached base on a dropped third strike, he advanced to third on a double by
Daniel Bucciero.
Madden Ocko then plated Lapekas with a ground out to short.
FAU tied the game at one in the bottom of the first on an RBI-single by Ayden Garcia, and then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second on a Fordham error.
The Owls extended the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth on another RBI-single from Garcia, before Fordham looked set for a rally in the eighth.
Taylor Kirk singled with one out and stole second. Lapekas followed with a single to right, moving Kirk to third. After Bucciero walked to load the bases, Ocko was hit by a pitch to force in a run. However,
Matt Dieguez flew out to center with Lapekas being thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Fau then sealed the win with a two-run home run by
Nick Romano in the bottom of the eighth for the 5-2 win.
Aidan Dowd (0-2) pitched well in the loss for the Rams, allowing two earned runs over five innings with five strikeouts.
Robbie Stewart pitched the final three innings in relief, giving up two runs on four hits with a strikeout. Fordham was limited to five hits in the game with Kirk, Lapekas, Bucciero,
Andrew Kanellis, and
Anthony Grabau each having one with Ocko posting a pair of RBI.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 4:00 PM.
