Francisco Rivero/Staff Writer
After getting shutout against Bethune-Cookman University on Feb. 20, FIU’s offense was starved.
The Panthers had only batted in 14 runs in four games, with 10 of those coming from the season opener.
As the Panthers (7-2) returned home to start a three-game series against Manhattan (0-3) on Feb. 22, players knew that they had to start hitting the ball better to support their starting pitchers. That is exactly what they did as after scoring 40 runs in a series sweep against the Jaspers.
“At Bethune, we didn’t come out with the normal energy we have and it showed,” Left fielder Zach Sweety said. “We got three hits and scored nothing in nine innings against a pitcher that we were capable of hitting and that just woke us up especially as an offense.”
Of the 40 runs driven in the Manhattan series, 18 came from the bats of just three Panthers. Veteran second baseman T.J. Shantz collected six runs batted with the help of two run home runs. Junior transfer Josh Anderson batted in five runs of his own while also knocking out a two run shot. Finally, first baseman and freshman standout Edwin Rios gathered seven RBIs on five doubles.
“We all said that we really needed to change our mindset and start working to opposite field,” Shantz said. “We just had to be more patient and start playing our type of baseball and do what we do best just battle and compete.”
“We’ve kind of been preparing for an explosion like this all year,” Anderson said. “Even coach [Henry Thomas] said that I think our hitters are ready for the explosion that we’ve been waiting for.”
While the Panthers bats start to heat up, Rios might as well be carrying the torch. Rios leads the team with a .455 batting average; he also has 15 hits, tied for the Sun Belt Conference lead, with 10 of those being doubles.
Starting Pitcher Tyler Alexander, who picked up his first division one win during the Manhattan series, knows how important it is for the big bats to start coming alive.
“They’re great ball players. They’re just hitting the ball real well,” Alexander said. “Edwin has been real hot and Josh is a monster, it’s good to have those guys behind my back knowing that they’re going to put up runs.”
After FIU’s sweep of the Jaspers, the Panther looked to continue their dominance against Texas Tech University (5-4). Having lost three games in a row, the Red Raiders were taking on water fast, and that didn’t stop on Feb. 25 in game one of a two-game series in FIU.
The Panthers exploded once again, collecting nine runs en route to their seventh straight win at home. Leading the way for FIU was none other than Rios who opened up the scoring with a two-run home run, his first in a Panther uniform, during the bottom of the first inning.
However, Texas Tech had the last laugh as they were able to split the two game series on Feb. 26 when they defeated FIU 8-6.
For Shantz, there were many positives and negatives to take away from the Red Raiders series to help build this team.
“The positive is that you beat a good team from a big conference,” Shantz said. “The negative, obviously, is that we should have taken two. We need to learn how to come a little more focused to the park and we could really focus on that moving forward.”
FIU now takes on No. 8 ranked University of Mississippi in a three-game series starting tonight at 6 p.m. For Head Coach Turtle Thomas and Shantz, the opportunity to play such a high-ranking team is a true honor.
“It’s going to be a great series,” Shantz said. “We’re very excited to play them because we’re going to get a true test of where we are at.”
“They’re a good team from the Southeastern Conference,” Thomas said. “We knew this was going to be an exciting week for FIU baseball, we’re 1-1 for the week and we need to go out there and compete and do well.”
