FIU Baseball Downs Stetson, Stumbles Against FAU

Liam Rooney / Staff Writer

The FIU Baseball team defeated the Stetson Hatters on Wednesday, April 21st and came away with a sole win against the Florida Atlantic Owls in a four game conference series on April 23rd to April 25th. 

Coming off a 7-6 win against Stetson, FIU started the series against FAU on Friday, losing 11-6. The Panthers split Saturday’s doubleheader, losing game one 16-7 and winning game two 6-5, then finished the series with a 8-7 loss on Sunday. 

Now holding an overall record of 16-24 and a conference record of 7-13, FIU remains ranked fifth out of the six teams in Conference USA’s Eastern Division. The Panthers are 5-10 all time against Stetson, winning their last two matchups against the Hatters. FIU’s record against the Owl’s is now 15-41 since their first meeting in 2006.

The Panthers matchup with Stetson began with two scoreless innings for both teams. The Hatters scored two runs in the top of the third. In the bottom of the fourth, FIU tied the game off singles from catcher Ben Rozenblum and catcher Luis Chavez.

In the fifth inning both teams scored a run, and in the sixth Stetson would add three more to make the score 6-3. The Panthers offense would roar to life in the bottom of the seventh, as outfielder Justin Farmer singled in catcher Humberto Torres, cutting the lead to two runs. Rozenblum then launched a three run home run into the night sky to push FIU past Stetson 7-6. 

Game one of the series with the Owls started with a bang as second baseman Derek Cartaya hit a homerun on the second pitch of the game. FIU added another run in the bottom of the first off of a single from first baseman Adrian Figueroa, bringing home third baseman Alec Sanchez. FAU tacked on three runs in the second inning, setting the score at 3-2. 

The Panthers allowed the Owls to score eight runs in the next five innings while being unable to significantly cut into the lead. Adding a run in the eight and two runs in the ninth inning wouldn’t be enough for FIU and game one resulted in an 11-6 loss. 

Game two was an offensive showdown, as the Owls had a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second. Farmer smashed a two run homerun to cut the lead down to one. FAU then collected 10 total runs in the next two innings, pushing the score to 13-2. 

In the fourth inning, outfielder Seth Cannady hit a solo homerun and cut the score to 13-3. A flurry of runs by the Panthers in the fifth inning lowered FAU’s lead to 13-7. Cartaya scored on a wild pitch, followed with a double by Farmer, scoring Figueroa, Rozenblum, and Chavez. Unable to catch up, FAU added three more runs and won game two by a score of 16-7. 

Game three gave FIU the opportunity to get back in the win column. Securing a commanding 5-1 lead in the second inning, FIU had enough momentum to take their first game of the series. In the second, shortstop Steven Ondina scored on a wild pitch, followed by a Cartaya two run homerun. Cannady notched another single that scored Figueroa. 

FAU battled back in the fourth, scoring three runs but FIU answered with a Farmer homerun, making the score 6-4. The Owls added another run to make it 6-5 but were unable to catch the Panthers, who won the only game in the series against FAU.

The fourth and final game of the series went down to the wire. A Rozenblum double brought home Cartaya in the first inning, then Rozenblum scored on a wild pitch, giving FIU an early 2-0 lead. FAU added three runs in the top of the fourth to make the score 3-2.

An instant response by the Panthers saw two runs added in the bottom of the fourth, giving FIU a 4-3 advantage. Shortstop Dante Girardi scored on a Rozenblum sac fly and then a Chavez double drove in Figueroa. However, the Owls added runs in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, pushing the lead to 8-4. 

In the ninth, the Panthers began to claw back into the game. Figueroa snagged a two-run RBI single that scored Farmer and Ondina, lowering the deficit to 8-6. With the bases loaded Chaves drew a walk, which scored Cartaya, making it a one run game. FIU was unable to secure the walk off run, however, and lost the final game of the series 8-7.

After another four game series against FAU in Boca Raton, FIU will head back home to host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Friday, May 7th at 7pm. The series will continue into Saturday and Sunday, with the final game being played at noon.