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MIAMI (Feb. 16, 2022) – Baseball begins a new era under first-year head coach Rich Witten with a three-game set against George Mason. Opening Day is Friday February 17 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. Game two is Saturday February 18 with first pitch set for 5 p.m. The series ends on Sunday February 19 with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
Opening Day will feature several promotions with Men's Soccer head coach Kyle Russell throwing out the first pitch, Honors College Night and a panther head hat giveaway.
A NEW ERA
Friday will mark the first game with new head coach Rich Witten at the helm. Witten becomes just the fifth coach in program history.
Witten comes to FIU with over eight years of coaching as an assistant at Winthrop University and, most recently, Virginia Commonwealth.
As the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, he helped VCU achieve a record of 42-30, two Atlantic 10 Conference Championships and an appearance in the 2022 NCAA North Carolina Regional championship game.
OUT THE GATES
The Panthers have a recent history of winning the opening series of the season having taken the last two.
FIU swept a four-game set against St. Thomas (Minnesota) last season and took two of three games against University of Illinois – Chicago in 2021.
The Panthers outscored their opponents 38-25 over those seven games.
STARTING ARMS
The Panthers starting pitching is a strength according to Witten and the opening series will feature three of the top arms.
Redshirt junior
Ryan Cabarcas gets the nod for opening day. The lefty hurler pitched 55.1 innings in his first season with the Panthers, striking out 63 batters and earning two wins.
Redshirt senior
Christian Santana will start game two against George Mason. Santana brings great leadership and veteran experience to the 2023 Panthers.
Redshirt senior
Angel Tiburcio closes the series out on Sunday. Tiburcio was the Panthers top arm last season as he earned a team-high four wins out of the bullpen.
GRIZZLED VETS
While there are many new faces on the FIU roster, the Panthers boast an experienced group with 30 of 39 players with at least three seasons of college baseball under their belt.
Juniors dominate the roster with 23, adding seven seniors and six sophomores.
This experience will help the Panthers win close games in 2023.
REINFORCEMENTS
Witten has brought in 17 new players this season with 16 coming in as transfers.
The transfers come from schools like the University of Miami, Virginia Tech, Pittsburg and Virginia Commonwealth. He also brought in top JUCO talent from around the state to help fortify the 2023 roster.
Local product
Roylan Quevedo is the only true freshman on the roster and will push for play time in the middle infield.
BRINGING BACK POP
The Panthers are returning seven of their top 10 hitters from last season.
276 hits and 20 homeruns are back in the Panthers line up in led by redshirt senior
Alec Sanchez and redshirt junior
Robert Sotolongo.
Sanchez was FIU's top batter in 2022, finishing the season with a .274 average, team-high 54 hits, 36 RBI and 10 homeruns.
Sotolong earned a .273 average with 45 hits, 24 RBI, two home runs and 11 stolen bases.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON
The Patriots went 23-33 in 2022 and was 8-19 away from home.
Senior infielder Brett Stallings is George Mason's top returning hitter. He finished 2022 with a .284 average, a team-best 63 hits, 11 doubles, 13 stolen bases and was the only player to play in all 56 games.
Graduate student lefty Ben Shields will be on the mound for the Patriots on opening day. In 42 innings pitched he held an ERA of 4.89, won two games and struck out 37 batters.
The Panthers and the Patriots last met in 2020 with FIU sweeping George Mason at FIU Baseball Stadium.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (
@FIU.Baseball), Twitter
(@FIUBaseball), and Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUBaseball) for all the latest Baseball news.
General athletic news can also be found at
@FIUSports on Facebook and
@FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
