William Duval | Contributing Writer
FIU baseball showed their talent, defeating the Bethune Cookman Wildcats 12-2 on Feb. 21, 2023 at the FIU Baseball Stadium.
The Panthers started the game laser focused, with redshirt junior Bryan Pazos striking out Bethune Cookman’s first three hitters. The rest of the first inning was a red hot start for the Panthers’ offense, beginning with redshirt senior Alec Sanchez hitting a single up the middle.
Soon after, junior Dante Girardi would be walked, putting the Panthers in a prime position to score. Junior Ryne Guida would capitalize on this opportunity, hitting left center and scoring a three run home run for the Panthers.
By the top of the second inning, the Panthers would find themselves holding a 3-0 advantage over the Wildcats.
Bethune Cookman would soon answer back, scoring one run to begin the second inning. Making the score 3-1 by the time the Panthers came to bat.
Redshirt senior Mike Rosario would make a hit to right field, good for a single and a score for redshirt junior Henry Wallen. The Panthers would immediately follow this up with another three points.
With the bases loaded, Guida would hit a single to center field, allowing three Panthers to score. At the end of the second inning, the Panthers would find themselves holding a 7-1 advantage over the Wildcats.
Once again, Bethune Cookman would find themselves trying to answer back, scoring one run in the third inning. This would make the score 7-2 with FIU still holding a comfortable lead.
Neither team would go on to score until the bottom of the fifth inning, where the Panthers would score three runs, with juniors Cesar Franco and Adrian Figueroa, along with redshirt sophomore Brendan Roney all contributing one score each.
FIU would end the fifth inning holding a 10-2 lead.
The Panthers would go on to score again, with Wallen making a hit, leading to another score for Figueroa. Finding themselves holding an 11-2 advantage, the Panthers still were not satisfied, looking to extend their lead.
At the bottom of the seventh inning, the Panthers would go on to score one more time. With an emphatic homerun from Rosario, the Panthers would increase their lead to 12-2.
Neither team would go on to score for the rest of the game, with the Panthers making a defensive stance, only allowing one hit in the final two innings. FIU would go on to win the game, increasing their record to 2-2 for the season.
After a tremendous win for the Panthers, they look to carry their momentum into their matchup against the Missouri Tigers. The game will be played on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 at the FIU baseball stadium, with the first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
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