Baseball: Golden Panthers sweep series vs. Dolphins

By: Jonathan Ramos/ Sports Director
The Golden Panthers (15-7) picked up two victories against the Jacksonville University Dolphins (11-11) as they prepare for their first Sun Belt Conference away trip this upcoming weekend.

#FIU 14, JACKSONVILLE 6#

The starting time was unusually early for a weekday game, but the Golden Panthers had the usual strong offensive performance as they cruised to an easy victory over the visiting Dolphins, completing the two-game weekday sweep on March 24.
In most weekday series, teams often have to rely on pitching depth to get them through the strain and for FIU, that depth proved to be sufficient.
“Both teams had an issue with how many arms were available,” head coach Turtle Thomas said. “It was good to have Dillon Vitale get us through four innings; Alberto Cardenas getting us through the sixth and Jorge Marban get us through the eighth. That made a big difference.”
The offense picked up from where they left off the night before and scored two runs in the first inning thanks to an RBI double from Mike Martinez and a walk to Yoandy Barroso with the bases loaded.
Jacksonville took a brief lead in the top of the third after a three-run blast by Dolphin slugger Jamaal Hawkins, but FIU scored three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning and never surrendered the lead again.
“These midweek games mean a lot to us and so far we’ve been able to win a lot of those games this season,” Martinez said.
After the Dolphins hammered back-to-back homeruns in the seventh inning to cut the Golden Panther lead down to two runs, FIU responded with six runs in their next two innings at the plate with more help from Martinez, who crushed a two-run blast over the wall in left-center to help cement the victory.
“It’s the monkey off the back,” Martinez said after hitting the home run, his first of the season. “Having a goose egg in the home run column isn’t real nice and it’s nice to get that over with.”
Martinez finished the game 2-for-5 with a team-high four RBI, leading an FIU offense that finished with 15 hits.
“We were able to hit through the line up and we were able to get some timely hits,” Thomas said.

#FIU 12, JACKSONVILLE 6#

The Golden Panthers returned to the win column with a victory over the Dolphins on March 23.
FIU, coming off a crushing loss in the series finale against Troy, hit four home runs to power the offense in the win.
“[Jacksonville] is a regional team from last year. And believe me, when you beat a regional team, it’s something special,” Thomas said after the game.
After falling behind early, Junior Arrojo, not normally known for his power, crushed his first home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field wall to give the Golden Panthers the lead in the third inning.
In the following inning, Rudy Flores took one deep over the right field wall for his second home run of the year. Flores wound up going 4-for-4 on the night with two RBI.
Extra time in the batting cages and working on fixing his swing with Thomas appears to have paid dividends for the freshman first basemen.
“I’ve been working with Coach Thomas,” Flores said. “I’ve been working on staying back on the off speed pitch and he threw me a change up and I just took it over the fence.”
Added Thomas, “Rudy has been working hard and he’s getting closer to where he needs to be.”
Jeremy Patton and Tim Jobe hit solo shots of their own to add to the Golden Panther lead, providing more than enough cushion for starter Daniel DeSimone.
“Danny hung in there and did a great job after pitching a complete game on Thursday [March 18 vs. Southern Utah],” Thomas said of his performance.
DeSimone, after pitching a complete game the week before, struck out nine batters and gave five up five runs in seven innings on the mound. The performance improved the sophomore’s record to 2-1 on the season and now holds a 4.70 ERA.
“I had the same confidence,” DeSimone said. “Everything was working. I went out there and completed every pitch. Now we just have to keep winning and get on a roll.”