Fabio Lopez / Staff Writer
The FIU Baseball team opened their Conference USA campaign with one win in their four-game series against the Old Dominion Monarchs at Norfolk, Virginia on March 26-28.
The Panthers began the series with a 15-12 win before losing their following three matches by scores of 0-14, 2-3, and 9-16 respectfully.
FIU is 1-3 in the conference and holds a 9-12 overall record. They now sit fifth out of six teams in the C-USA Eastern Conference and are fifth out of 12 teams in the general standings.
Outfielder Justin Farmer scored a home run in game one to hand outfielder Juan Teixeira a run-batted-in and give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. The Monarchs responded with three RBI’s to flip the score 3-2.
Old Dominion carried their momentum into the second inning, doubling their score and holding a 6-2 advantage. FIU fought back with a home run from outfielder Alec Sanchez and another RBI from Teixeira to narrow the deficit 4-6.
The game was quiet until the top of the fifth and sixth innings, where Teixeira, Sanchez, first and second baseman Seth Cannady and Derek Cartaya, and shortstop Steven Ondina all scored to give the Panthers a 9-6 lead.
The Monarchs scored a seventh run at the bottom of the sixth before the Panthers went on a blitz in the top of eighth to seal a 15-7 win, courtesy of runs by Sanchez, Ondina, Teixeria, Cartaya, and first baseman Adrian Figueroa.
A doubleheader was played on Saturday, in which both games were swept by the Monarchs. They shut out the Panthers 14-0 in game one before winning game two 3-2 in the fifth inning after a dull offensive display by both teams.
Both squads confronted each other a fourth time on Sunday, March 28th, with the Monarchs earning a three-peat against FIU, winning the game 15-9.
The first inning had Old Dominion up 9-0 before the Panthers came back strong in the top of the third inning to tie the game 9-9, with Farmer scoring a home run and FIU capitalizing on two errors by ODU to level the scoreline.
The Monarchs quickly took back control of the game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third in eight innings to end the game 16-9.
Stat-wise, Farmer shined in game one, going 3-for-5 with a home run and earning five RBIs, the most by a Panther since 2018.
During Saturday’s doubleheader, Cartaya, Figueroa, and Ondina were the only Panthers to earn a base hit in either game. Additionally, Ondina drove in his 13th run this season.
Farmer scored his third home run of the season in the series finale, while scoring two hits and RBI’s. Shortstop Dante Girardi earned his first-ever three-hit performance with the Panthers.
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