MIAMI – The FIU baseball program is set to close out the home slate of their 2024 regular season as they host crosstown rival, the Miami Hurricanes this Tuesday, May 14 for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
FIU (25-25) will begin their final week of regular season play hosting Miami before flying out to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in a Power Five matchup this upcoming weekend on May 16. – 18. The Panthers finished off Conference USA play with a record of 11-13, tying the most wins in CUSA since 2021. FIU took on Sam Houston at home this past weekend, dropping all three games to the Bearkats.
Currently, the Panthers have already clinched a spot in the CUSA Championships, qualifying for the tournament for the first time since 2018.
As of now, FIU sits sixth in the standings, yet they could finish as high as fifth or as low seventh depending on how the other eight schools finish out their respective CUSA slate. FIU is the only program to have finished CUSA play in 2024.
This Tuesday, FIU will look to earn back-to-back wins over Miami, for the first time since 2018 including securing a season series tie.
On Wednesday, May 8, FIU earned a midweek victory over the Miami Hurricanes in a 9-7 win from Coral Gables. Tied at five into the seventh, FIU used a four-run inning paced by a towering three-run homer from senior
Jeff Liquori that was just enough to earn the win. It marked the first victory against the Hurricanes since April 25, 2018.
THOSE BATS OOZE CONFIDENCE
Overall, on the season, the Panthers have recorded 25 games with 10+ hits as a team, boasting the team batting average to .301, third in CUSA and 54th in the nation. In addition, the ballclub has a team OPS of .893.
The team has totaled for 518 hits, second in CUSA.
As a unit, FIU's offense has been lethal with the bat in CUSA play. In 24 games, they are first in the conference in hits (285), and runs (207) and batting average of .328.
Six players are hitting well over the .300 mark, beginning with
Brylan West, hitting .339.
Ryne Guida and
Alex Ulloa are tied with a .333 clip. The cycle king
Armando Becerra is hitting .311.
Jeff Liquori has posted a .309 average and
Austin Dearing is hitting .308.
THEY CALL HIM THE HIT MACHINE
Ryne Guida has continued to be a pivotal piece in the top order of the Panthers lineup as the designated hitter, currently on his best stretch of the season.
The senior is hitting .364 in his past ten games with 16 hits alongside three home runs and 13 RBI. Guida has hits in six of his past seven games including three hits in the weekend series against Sam Houston, which included a pair of home runs, boasting his total to nine on the season. His team-leading RBI total of 53 leads the team and is the first player since Mike Martinez to have 50+ RBI in back-to-back seasons (2010-2011).
Guida had a three-hit performance against Miami on Wednesday, May 8 logging a double and a pair of RBI.
In CUSA play this year, Guida has 25 RBI (6
th in RBI), hitting .320 with and six doubles.
LET'S HAVE A PARTY AT THE BWEST BACKYARD!
It has been a productive stretch at the plate for the Panther's leadoff hitter
Brylan West.
West has nine hits in his past five games, including a four-hit weekend against Sam Houston. On Friday, West went 3-for-5 with a pair doubles, his 16
th multi-hit performance of the season. The next day, the redshirt junior belted a two-run homer to centerfield, his ninth of the season. At Miami this past Wednesday May, 8, West went 2-for-3 from the leadoff stop including a double.
The Tampa, Fla. native leads the team in batting (.339) and is the team-leader in OPS (1.070), 7
h in CUSA.. In addition, he leads the pack in triples (2) and second in doubles (15). He finished off his first year of CUSA action, hitting .349 with six homers and 25 RBI (5
th in CUSA).
KISHON GO BOOM
Outfielder
Kishon Frett has found his footing this past weekend against Sam Houston.
In three games, Frett had six hits with three RBI and a homer including securing a career-day on Saturday, May 11, going 4-for-5, his first ever four-hit performance.
On Sunday, May 14, the redshirt junior hit a two-run blast out to left field for his team-leading 14
th homer of the season. In CUSA action, Frett hit a total of six home runs, tied for the team-lead in conference play. Frett is hitting .462 in his past four games (6-for-13).
THAT BALL IS OUTTA HERE
As a collective unit, the Panthers offense has lit up the box score with homers, 74 total as a ballclub. The 74 HRs is tied for fourth in Conference USA and 67th in the nation.
With a week left of regular season baseball, FIU sits 5th in program history in homers hit in a season, tying the record set by the 1980 program.
This past weekend, FIU hit nine home runs in the three games combined against Sam Houston, including eight in the past two games.
The power is led by Frett, who leads the pack with 14 homers on his campaign.
Liquori has belted ten homers. West and Guida each have nine and Ulloa has eight. Becerra and Dearing are tied with six homers on the season.
COOL, CALM, & COLLECTED ALEX
The Panthers starting shortstop
Alex Ulloa has found a nice stretch, hitting .360 in his past five games with nine hits. This past weekend against Sam Houston, the junior had six hits including a four-hit performance with a two-run homer on Saturday, May 11. It was Ulloa's second four-hit game of the season, coming last at New Mexico State on Friday, April 19.
LIGHT THE LAMPTON
Lefty
Zac Lampton continues to build on his breakout senior season leading the pitching staff with 61 strikeouts, already a career-high with a 3.140 ERA in 42.1 innings.
He worked two scoreless frames against Miami on May 8, shutting down the Hurricanes lineup with four punchouts closing out the night for the win. In his past 12 appearances, Lampton has given up just six earned runs in 15.2 innings with 24 strikeouts.
This past Saturday, May 11 he allowed two earned runs over two innings with five strikeouts vs Sam Houston.
KEEP IT ROLLING ORLY
Senior relief pitcher
Orlando Hernandez dropped his team-leading ERA to 1.57 on Saturday, April 27 vs Dallas Baptist with a solid outing of three scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the Miami native.
In 13 appearances, Hernandez has given up just six earned runs in 34.1 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts. He is having the best stretch in his college career thus far.
SCOUTING THE HURRICANES
The Hurricanes enter the midweek matchup with an 23-27 overall and a 10-17 mark in ACC play. Miami is coming off a series road victory against Virginia Tech this past weekend in Blacksburg, Va., taking two of three, before dropping the series finale on Sunday, May 12 in an 13-4 decision.
The Hurricanes are led by freshman infielder Daniel Cuvet, who leads the team with a .353 batting average alongside 20 HR and 60 RBI. His 20 HR are tied for second, joining Pat Burrell as the only Hurricane freshmen to hit at least 20 home runs. Junior Dorian Gonzalez Jr. has played in all 50 games sporting a .316 batting average with eight homers and 46 RBI.
UP NEXT
FIU prepares for it's final regular season series of the year as they head up to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes from May. 16-18. All three games will be streamed on Big 10+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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@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
