Panther Preview: Baseball team battling for position in the C-USA standings

Brett Shweky // Staff Writer

With 20 games remaining for the FIU Panthers, the team will look for a strong finish as the team is battling for top-position in the Conference USA standings.

Over the weekend, FIU (21-15, 8-7 C-USA) took two out of three games against the UTSA Roadrunners (17-17, 7-8).

Centerfielder Kenny Meimerstorf went five for 12 in the series against the Roadrunners with six RBI and two runs scored. Infielder JC Escarra went six for nine with four runs scored.

Meimerstorf said for the Panthers to continue their success the team must stay aggressive and remain focused.

“At the plate it’s all about mental toughness,” said the senior centerfielder. “As a batter you need believe that you’re tougher than the opposing pitcher. You need to have the mentality that no matter what the circumstances are you’re gonna get that hit.”

Southern Miss (27-9, 11-3) and conference-rival Florida Atlantic (24-9-1, 11-3) are currently tied for first in the Conference USA standings. Old Dominion (26-10, 10-4) and Charlotte (20-16, 9-6) trail the top teams, while FIU sits at the fifth spot in the conference standings.

Head coach Mervyl Melendez said for the Panthers to rise in the conference standings, the team must continue to battle and tighten up on the defensive side of the ball.

“The players have been battling all year,” said Melendez. “Even though recently, as a team we haven’t played the best defensively, I know that if they stay aggressive and stick with the process everything will fix itself. These players our resilient, they don’t allow a slow start or a bad at bat bring them down. They’ll continue to fight and I know going forward that the mistakes will be fixed.”

Coming up for the Panthers, FIU will take on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (28-10) in a mid-week two-game series. The first of the two games will be played at Fort Myers on Tuesday while the final game will take place at the FIU ballpark the following day. Both games are set to begin at 6:30 p.m.   

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