FIU Baseball Repeats Struggles Against FAU, Drops Three of Four

Richard Gibson / Sports Director

The FIU Baseball team dropped three out of four against the Florida Atlantic Owls in Boca Raton on Friday, April 30 to May 2, just like their previous series against the Owls the week prior. 

With six losses in eight straight games against the Owls, FIU’s record has plummeted to a 17-27 record, with an 8-16 record against Conference USA opponents. 

They’re currently in sixth place out of the seven teams in C-USA’s Eastern Division, only in front of the Marshall Thundering Herd.

This is another chapter in the historically bad matchup for FIU. Ever since their first game in 2006, FAU has held a decisive 44-16 advantage in the series. 

Coming off a rain delay earlier on Friday, Game One seemed to set the tone for the series. FAU scored a single run in the bottom of the first inning, though FIU would tie things up in the top of the third off a double by infielder Adrian Figueroa. 

FAU responded by scoring nine unanswered runs to increase their lead to 10-1. FIU Shortstop Steven Ondina soloed his first home run to left field in the top of the seventh inning, but the Owls added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a commanding 12-2 win. 

Saturday’s game was FIU’s lone win in the series. Florida Atlanctic took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and all was quiet until the sixth inning when the Panthers tacked on three runs courtesy of a three-run homer by outfielder Justin Farmer. FIU then added three more runs in the top of the ninth to take a resounding 6-1 win. 

Game three of the series was scheduled for Saturday night, but was rained out and instead played on Sunday morning. It began with FIU adding four runs in the top of the first, which came off a double by outfielder Ben Rozenblum, followed by him stealing home plate off a wild pitch. Farmer then doubled, and infielder Dante Girardi singled to add the final run of the inning. 

FIU’s efforts in the top of the first were negated when FAU scored six runs half an inning later, with three of them coming from walks with the bases loaded. The Owls added another run in the second inning to take a 7-4 lead. 

The Panthers scored four runs in the third and fourth inning to take the lead right back. In the third, Farmer hit a two-run bomb, then Girardi doubled to add another run. Rozenblum ran home courtesy of a wild pitch in the top of the fourth to give FIU an 8-7 advantage. 

FAU once again responded with a single run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game up. After four straight silent innings (including two extra innings) from both schools, FAU was able to score off a sacrifice fly ball in the bottom of the ninth to secure a walk-off 9-8 victory. 

Game four on Sunday afternoon was less active on the scoreboard, though FIU was able to get an early lead off a solo home run by replacement hitter Alec Sanchez. It would be the only run the Panthers had in the game, and the Owls scored three runs in the third and fourth innings to take the series-ending 3-1 win.

FIU will head back to Miami for their final home series on Friday, May 7 to Sunday, May 9 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Game one will be on Friday at 7pm, and after two games on Saturday, the series will close on Sunday at noon.