MIAMI (April 1, 2022) – FIU baseball team toppled the defending Conference USA champions Old Dominion Monarchs by a score of 13-3 on Friday night. 
 
The Panther tandem of Jayden Melendez and Jorge Ramirez led the Panther attack with a combined three home runs and seven RBIs. Melendez homered twice for his first multi-home run game of his young career, while Ramirez went deep once and drove in four.
 
Centerfielder Alec Sanchez added his team-leading seventh home run in the seventh after walking in each of his first three plate appearances on Friday.
 
Robert Sotolongo rounded out the Panther offensive barrage with two hits of his own. The Panther outfielder also scored once. 
 
Not to be outdone by his offense, Patrick Pridgen returned to form on the mound tossing six innings of one-run ball. The C-USA leader in strikeouts struck out 12 more to push his season total to 64. 
 
Pridgen's performance against ODU was the fourth start in 2022 that the hard-throwing righty fanned double-digit batters. 
 
The Apple Valley, Minnesota native, struck out the side in three of his six innings of work. 
 
After a scoreless top of the first by Pridgen, the Panther bats scored early and often off of ODU pitching putting up a seven-spot to open the game. The frame was highlighted by back-to-back home runs off the bats of Ramirez and Melendez. 
 
FIU held a touchdown lead until the fourth when the Monarchs got on the board with a solo shot to right. The Panthers answered right back in the home half when Ramirez singled to center scoring Sanchez to make it 8-1. 
 
Ramirez and Melendez were back to doing damage in the sixth when the duo drove in three insurance runs that included Melendez's second homer of the night to dead center. 
 
The Sanchez home run gave the home-standing Panthers a 13-1 advantage heading into the final two innings. 
 
ODU scored twice in the eighth to cut the deficit to 13-3 before Zac Lampton pitched a shutdown ninth to season the FIU victory. 
 
UP NEXT
FIU and Old Dominion will play game two of the weekend set at FIU Baseball Stadium on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. ET.
   
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