Paws Up Preview: FIU Baseball vs. Long Island Sharks

MIAMI, FL – Baseball season is right around the corner for FIU and this is a team that seems to be destined to go a long way.

The Panthers will kick things off for the 2024 season at home this Friday against the Long Island Sharks.

Scouting The Sharks

In 2023, the Sharks went 19-36, but were 16-14 in conference play, so they certainly stepped it up during their weekend games.

The most notable returning player for the Sharks is catcher Connor Price who slashed .341/.422/.514/.936 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in 2023. Price led the team in batting average as well.

The team leader in OPS and second in home runs was first baseman JC Navarro who slashed .336/.404/.556/.960 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. He returns to the Sharks for his senior season as he should slot in around the range of second to fourth bat in the lineup with his power and run-producing ability.

The team leader in innings pitched, Alec Huertas is no longer with the program, so up next is Garrett Yawn who threw 70.2 innings and posted a 5.48 ERA. He should be Long Islands Opening Day starter if all went well during the fall/spring practices.

Along with Yawn, Dominic Pieto should be another name that the Panthers will see on the mound as he finished third in innings pitched this past season. Lefty freshman Torin Kassebaum should also be a name to keep a lookout for as he went 9-0 with 120 strikeouts in his varsity prep career leading up to joining LIU.

The Sharks do not hold too many lefties in their lineup, but when looking at right-handed pitchers, you’ll see 15 players, so expect righty-heaving pitching from the Sharks come opening weekend.

For LIU, they have a lot more bullpen options rather than starters, or relievers converted to starters, so it will be interesting to see how battle tested the Sharks are come Saturday, which will be the first scheduled doubleheader of the season for either team.

Your FIU Panthers

Despite the improved record last season, the Panthers still finished below .500 and didn’t manage to make it into the Conference USA tournament. With that being said, the conference got better and it’ll now be harder than ever to make it, but depth is the word of the season for this FIU team.

In all likelihood, the Opening Day starter will be righty senior Jackson Ritchey given his strong spring/fall camp. Most recently, Ritchey gave up a lead-off home run to infielder Brylan West as well as multiple hits following that, but has still shown mid to upper 90’s when it comes to velocity as well as good swing and miss action.

A lot of chatter surrounds what the rotation will look like following Ritchey, and it seems as if redshirt sophomore Joel Pineiro will be the Saturday starter along with Ryan Cabarcas in game two. They can interchange who will start which game.

Everything indicates that the crafty newcomer Logan Runde will get the ball on Sunday. With his slider/changeup combo, there is a lot to like along with his fastball which has been 89-92 miles per hour, but more known for his swing-and-miss action on the secondary pitches.

Below are the possible lineups that we see on Friday:

Brylan West (3B)
Jeff Liquori (1B)
Ryne Guida (DH)
Armando Becerra (CF)
Austin Dearing (RF)
Kishon Frett (LF)
Alex Ulloa (SS)
Chase Engelhard (2B)
Brendan Roney (C)

Brylan West (1B)
Jeff Liquori (RF)
Ryne Guida (DH)
Austin Dearing (CF)
Kishon Frett (LF)
Alex Ulloa (SS)
Roylan Quevedo (2B)
Andre Martinez (3B)
Ronny Medina (C)

Throughout practices, West has seen reps at third base along with Liquori taking reps at first base, so it gives head coach Rich Witten two versatile options and more depth off of his bench.

West at the leadoff spots provides Witten’s ball club with what he believes is the second most polished hitter on the team, followed by Jeff Liquori and Ryne Guida, two of the top overall hitters on this team who have a balance of contact and power in them.

Liquori shifting between first and the outfield gives the Panthers various options with not just weekend lineups, but for mid-week lineups with the amount of depth that this team has.

Opening Day will be on Friday, February 16th at 6:30pm at the FIU Baseball Stadium. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.

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