MIAMI (Feb. 16, 2020) - The FIU baseball team had another offensive explosion, with the Panthers scoring 18 runs on Sunday to cap the Opening Weekend sweep of Fordham.

With the 18-2 win, the Panthers improve to 3-0 on the year. Fordham, who was a 2019 NCAA tourney team, was outscored 46-9 by FIU over the weekend. 

"This weekend got started with the inspirational talk from Michael Mendez," coach Mervyl Melendez said. "He inspired us to have a great start of the season." 

The series sweep for FIU is its first to start a year since the four-game sweep over Rutgers to begin 2014. 

The Panthers scored seven runs to open Sunday's game and force an early call to the Fordham bullpen. FIU blasted four home runs on Sunday, with Alec Sanchez, Juan Teixeira and the catcher platoon of Luis Chavez and Jose Garcia each hitting their first long balls of the season. 

Will Saxton earned the win on the mound, pitching five innings and allowing no runs. Joseph Quintal was dealt the loss after allowing seven runs in only 0.2 innings of work. 

At the dish, Derek Cartaya led the Panthers with four base knocks, while Sanchez earned five RBI thanks in part to his two-run shot in the eighth inning. 

KEY STAT
FIU hit .704 (19-27) with runners on the bag, to put the exclamation point on a 46-run weekend. 

UP NEXT
FIU hits the road for the first time this season, as the Panthers travel north to Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. ET.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUBaseball on Facebook and @FIUBaseball on Twitter and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.