RUSTON, La. - The sixth-seeded FIU baseball program prepares for postseason play as they are set to take on the three-seeded Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the CUSA Championship on Wednesday, May 22 at 10 a.m. from J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

 Wednesday May. 22 vs #3 Western Kentucky

• Time / Site: 10 a.m. at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
• Watch  (ESPN+)
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FIU closed out their 2024 regular season 26-28 and a 11-13 conference mark to finish sixth in the Conference USA standings. The Panthers took on the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big 10 in Des Moines this past weekend, taking gam e one of the series 2-1 before dropping the final two games.
 
The Panthers will make their sixth appearance in the CUSA Championship and their first time qualifying for the tournament since 2018. FIU won the tournament in 2015, eventually heading to the Coral Gables Regional that same season.

FIU will take on Western Kentucky for a fourth time this season. Last time out, the Panthers traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky in later March taking the series including a run-rule 11-1 win on Friday, March 22. 
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams in the Conference USA Championships.

The winner of FIU/Western Kentucky will take on the winner of second-seeded Dallas Baptist and seventh-seeded New Mexico State on Thursday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
 
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 .295, fifth in CUSA and 68^th in the nation. In addition, the ballclub has a team OPS of .878.

The team has totaled for 540 hits, fifth 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.

Four players are hitting well over the .300 mark, beginning with Ryne Guida, hitting .344. Brylan West paces for second hitting .335 and Alex Ulloa has a.338 clip. Jeff Liquori has posted a .300
  
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 .395 in his past ten games with 17 hits alongside three home runs and 15 RBI. Guida has hits in nine of his past 11 games including four hits in the regular season finale at Iowa with a three-hit performance on Saturday, May 18.His team-leading RBI total of 55 leads the team and is the first player since Mike Martinez to have 50+ RBI in back-to-back seasons (2010-2011).
 
He has 18 hit by pitches, which is one shy of tying the single-season record with 19 HBP set by Alex Alfonso (2006).
 
Guida was awarded the First Team All-Conference, making back-to-back seasons on the All-Conference list after being selected to the Second Team All-Conference in 2023.

In CUSA play this year, Guida has 25 RBI (9th^h in RBI), hitting .320 with and six doubles.
 
ALL FOR ONE BRYLAN
It has been a productive stretch at the plate for the Panther's leadoff hitter Brylan West.

West has nine hits in his past hits games, including a pair of RBI with a homer over the regular season finale at Iowa.
 
The Tampa, Fla. native is second on the team in (.335) and is the team-leader in OPS (1.067), 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 (8th^h in CUSA).
 
The redshirt junior was named to the Second Team All-Conference in first year at FIU for his outstanding offensive efforts.

THAT BALL IS OUTTA HERE
As a collective unit, the Panthers offense has lit up the box score with homers, 77 total as a ballclub. The 77 HRs is fourth in Conference USA and 71st in the nation.
 
Heading into postseason action, FIU sits 4th in program history in homers hit in a season.
 
The past four games, FIU has hit ten home runs, including nine in the past three games.

The power is led by Frett who leads the pack with 14 homers on his campaign.

Three players have ten homers (Jeff Liquori, Alex Ulloa, and Brylan West). Guida has nine while Becerra and Dearing have six.

LIGHT THE LAMPTON
Lefty Zac Lampton continues to build on his breakout senior season leading the pitching staff with 67 strikeouts, already a career-high with a 3.13 ERA in 46 innings.

He worked 2.2 scorless innings at Iowa on Thursday, May, 16 in the 2-1 win.In his past 14 appearances, Lampton has given up just six earned runs in 19 innings with 30 strikeouts.

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.
 
He was named to the Second Team All-Conference for his efforts in his senior campaign.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Western Kentucky enters the championship as the three seed after finishing the season 34-20, including a CUSA mark of 15-9. They finished off regular season play taking the series over New Mexico State at home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Hilltoppers are led by junior infielder Blake Cavill, who leads the team with a .306 batting average in addition to leading the Hilltoppers in 7 HRs, 17 2B, and 44 RBI (team-highs). Outfielder Ethan Lizama has been an impactful bat, hitting .396 with six homers and 37 runs driven in.

On the mound, Western Kentucky will roll out Jacob Bimbi on Wednesday morning, sporting a 6.22 ERA in 50.2 innings with 13 starts. The senior allowed two earned runs over four innings with four hits and strikeouts vs FIU in the victory on Saturday, March 23. In the bullpen, Mason Burns leads the team in saves (15), which is top-five in the nation and holds the single-season record in saves for Western Kentucky.

 
UP NEXT
With a win, FIU takes on the winner of New Mexico State/DBU on Thursday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m.. If FIU loses, they play on Thursday, May 23 at 10 a.m. ET in the loser matchup vs either New Mexico State or Dallas Baptist. 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