Jonathan Mayer / Staff Writer
The FIU baseball team played four games in five days, losing to the Miami Hurricanes on March 31st, but bouncing back against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on April 1st-3rd.
Despite the three game winning streak for the Panthers, they have an overall record of 12-14 and are in fourth place out of the six in the Eastern Division of Conference USA.
Game one of their five-game homestand was against the nationally ranked #18 Hurricanes. After Miami took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off a home run, they lit up the scoreboard with five runs in the third inning, three in the fourth, six in the fifth, and four in the seventh, holding a 19-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh, FIU brought home a run on a sacrifice fly by infielder Francis Villaman. Miami tacked on two more runs in the ninth, ending the ballgame by a score of 21-1.
FIU then came back to the diamond the following day to face Western Kentucky.
In game one, the Panthers got on the board early off a run batted in by first baseman Adrian Figuorea. However, the Hilltoppers responded with a homerun in the fourth, then added multiple runs in the fifth and sixth innings, making it 4-1 in favor of WKU.
It didn’t end there, as Western Kentucky brought home five runs in the eighth from costly errors made by FIU infielders Diante Girardi and Steven Ondina, whose throws were off target to their teammates. The Panthers added one run in the bottom inning, but it wasn’t enough as the game ended in a 9-2 loss.
In game two, both teams didn’t score any runs until the sixth inning, in which Ondina batted a triple, got on base, and scored on a sacrifice fly from infielder Derek Cartaya
The inning continued as Figouera singled and catcher Luiz Chavez doubled, then outfielder Justin Farmer doubled to left center, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
FIU Starting pitcher Tyler Myrick, who struggled in his last outing against Old Dominion, bounced back against WKU. He didn’t give any earned runs through six innings, but was pulled after giving up two in the seventh. Relief pitcher Angel Tiburcio came in and got the final three outs to win the first game of the series for the Panthers.
Game three was another pitching duel for both teams.
Western Kentucky had taken the lead in the first inning on a solo home run, but FIU retaliated in the bottom of the inning. Ondina singled, Cartaya doubled, and Figouera brought home Ondina with a RBI groundout to tie the game.
It was a stalemate from the second to sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Figouera led off with a double, Chavez got hit by a pitch, and Farmer singled. With the bases loaded, outfielder RJ Ibanzez hit a walk-off RBI single to secure a 2-1 win for FIU.
The final game of the series was all FIU.
Right from the getco, they took a 2-0 lead in the first inning due to wild pitches and infield errors made by WKU. In the bottom of the second, infielder Girardi singled home, making it 3-0. Ondina then hit an RBI single that extended the lead to 4-0.
After a home run by Farmer, the runs continued in the fourth inning, totaling four more to give FIU a 9-0 advantage. Ondina would have another RBI single in the sixth, and the Panthers would win the ball game 10-0.
Following a brief road trip to Coral Gables on April 7th, FIU will begin another four-game series against the Charlotte 49ers on Friday, April 9th at 7pm. Game two begins the following day at 2pm, and game three will begin 45 minutes after game two ends. The series finishes on Sunday, April 10th at noon.
About Post Author
