MIAMI – The FIU Baseball program prepares for an home-and-home weekend series against in-state rivals, the Florida Atlantic Owls, beginning on Friday, March. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Game two will take place on March. 9 in Miami at FIU Baseball Stadium for a 5 p.m. first pitch before heading back to Boca Raton on March. 10 at noon.
Friday, Mar. 8 at Florida Atlantic
Saturday, Mar. 9 vs Florida Atlantic
Sunday, Mar. 10 at Florida Atlantic
The Panthers wrapped up a nine-game homestand, going 5-4 including series splits of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Seton Hall Pirates. FIU closed out the home slate with three consecutive wins including Tuesday, March. 5 in a 5-1 midweek victory over Bethune Cookman.
FIU and Florida Atlantic will matchup for the 134
th time Friday night, dating back to 1981 when the Panthers won the first matchup on April 11
th,1981 in a 11-2 win. The Panther's last victory against the Owls came last season on April 8
th, 2023 in a 16-2 run-rule win from FIU Baseball Stadium.
PITCHING PREVAILS
The Panthers pitching unit over the past three games have shined, allowing just five earned runs to their opponents.
Three starters
Joel Pineiro,
Cameron Knox, and
Evan Alwine made strong impressions taking the rubber in the victories. Pineiro worked a career-high 6 2/3 innings in the Sunday win vs Seton Hall. Knox gave up an earned run through four innings on Monday night in the 4-3 victory. Freshman
Evan Alwine made his first career collegiate start, shutting down the Wildcats on Tuesday, March. 5 with three scoreless frames.
In the pen, veteran throwers Ryan Cabarcas and
Orlando Hernandez each picked up saves across the last three games. The righty Hernandez threw 2.2 innings in the combined wins against Seton Hall with three strikeouts and notched his second save of the season on Monday. Through four appearances, Hernandez has a 1.13 ERA in eight innings of work and nine strikeouts.
Southpaw Cabarcas worked a scoreless ninth on Sunday's win with a pair of strikeouts. The senior came onto pitch Tuesday night with the bases loaded and nobody on in the eighth, striking out the side in order, propelling FIU to a win. Cabarcas has already secured three saves, leading FIU.
Lefty
Zac Lampton has been a key factor out of the bullpen, firing 17 punchouts over nine innings of work this early season.
David Eckaus and
Bryce Greene saw time on the mound over the weekend with scoreless efforts.
Through 13 games, seven Panthers have sub-4.00 ERAs on the mound (Alwine, Cabarcas, Eckaus, Hernandez, Lampton, Pineiro, and
Logan Runde).
THAT BALL IS OUTTA HERE
As a collective unit, the Panthers offense has lit up the box score with homers, 21 total as a ballclub. The 21 HRs sit second overall in Conference USA thus far.
Over the five-game homestand, four Panthers logged a total of five home runs including solo shots by (
Kishon Frett, Guida,
Alex Ulloa, and
Brylan West). Senior
Jeff Liquori pulled away with a pair of home runs across the five game to sit second on the team in HRs.
Kishon Frett leads the group with five HRs, hitting his fifth of the season this past Saturday against Seton Hall.
Guida, West, and Ulloa are tied on the team with three home runs each.
KEEP ON HITTIN'
The Panther bats have kept rolling heading into the weekend series against Florida Atlantic, hitting .283 as a ballclub.
Four Panthers are hitting over the .300 mark (Guida,
Chase Engelhard,
Alex Ulloa, and
Brylan West).
West leads the pack with a .419 batting average alongside a 1.313 OPS, second in CUSA.
Ulloa is in the midst of a 6-game on-base streak with eight hits, two RBIs and a HR. The junior is currently hitting .405 with 11 runs driven in.
Guida continues to elevate his game in his senior season with a 1.081 OPS clip, and hitting .375 with a team-leading 15 RBIs and 3 HRs.
Engelhard has settled in comfortably in his first year at FIU, leading the pack with four doubles and a triple with five RBIs.
Frett and Liquori are hitting over the .270 mark, having combined for 25 RBIs being featured in the middle of the order.
Armando Becerra has played in all 13 games, primarily in centerfield, notching three doubles.
FRESH FACES
The 2024 roster features 22 newcomers for FIU including six freshmen to bolster the roster.
Notable key additions in DII transfer
Jeff Liquori who play various positions across the field. Seminole State College transfer
Kishon Frett will be a key power bat in the Panthers lineup, alongside South Florida State College transfer
Brylan West, and Erskine transfer
Armando Becerra. In the infield, Miami Dade CC transfer
Alex Ulloa is projected to play shortstop, while Tulane transfer
Chase Engelhard will get looks at second.
On the mound, JUCO additions
Logan Runde and
Ryan Reyerson will be pivotal pieces on the bump while freshmen
Tristan Dietrich and
Evan Alwine will get looks on the mound across the season.
MLB CONNECTIONS
FIU has multiple MLB connections on their roster as pitcher
Orlando Hernandez is the son of 4x World Series Champion Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and nephew of Marlins 1997 WS Champion Livan Hernandez.
Pitcher
Joel Pineiro is the son of 12-year MLB veteran
Joel Pineiro.
Pitcher
Owen Puk is the brother of current Marlins relief pitcher AJ Puk.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Florida Atlantic heads into this weekend's contest with a 6-5 record, off a series victory against Stonehill College, taking two out of three against the Massachusetts university.
The Owls earlier in the season secured a notable win over the ranked #9 Vanderbilt Commadores in a 5-4 win on Feb. 17.
Offensively, Florida Atlantic has five players hitting over the .300 mark. Senior Spencer Rich leads the team in hits (18) and has belted a pair of home runs including seven hits over Stonehill. Junior Brandon Leroux is tied for the team-leader in RBIs (12).
On the mound, freshman starter Trey Beard has a ERA of 2.84 in three starts thus far this season. The Owl's Saturday starter tossed four innings, allowing an earned run and struck out four against Stonehill on March. 2.
CJ Williams, who will start on Friday, has been impactful his past two outings, throwing 14 innings and allowing just an earned run.His last start against Stonehill on March.1, the senior gave up no earned runs over seven and struck out nine for the win.
Out of the bullpen, Danny Trehey has yet to allow a run over 9.1 innings, while striking out 16 batters in that process.
UP NEXT
FIU prepares for a midweek matchup at home vs Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday, March. 13 at 6 p.m.. It can be streamed on ESPN+
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
