FIU Baseball Defeats Miami Hurricanes For The First Time Since 2018

CORAL GABLES, FL – The battle for the 305 took place on Wednesday night as FIU baseball walked into Mark Light Field and did something they haven’t done in six years.

After the Panthers set the tone taking a 4-0 lead, the Hurricanes chipped away and tied it at five apiece. A seventh-inning homer put the Panthers past the Canes by a final score of 9-7.

“There’s no doubt it felt good,” said manager Rich Witten. “They’ve got a tremendous program and a good team. You know, They’re always going to come ready to play and we’ve had a lot of close games with them. Many games have gone down to the wire and haven’t gone our way. No question it was great to get a win tonight.”

On the mound for the Hurricanes was a familiar face that the Panthers had seen in Ashton Crowther, but FIU took advantage of their familiarity and tacked him on for four runs through 1.1 innings pitched.

Ryne Guida extended his on-base streak to 32 games and knocked in his 49th RBI of the season. Following Guida, the second run of the ballgame came on a Jeff Liquori sac fly, and then Chase Engelhard drove in Guida on an RBI single.

Brendan Roney hitting homers at Mark Light Field is just a casualty. In the top of the second inning, Roney took Crowther deep for his third dinger, but second of the season at Mark Light Field.

On the mound, the Panthers went with David Eckaus who had started the prior two games against the Hurricanes, but in a diminished role as they’ll save him up for the final conference weekend matchup of the season.

Eckaus went 1.1 innings, struck out one, and didn’t give up a hit or walk. Owen Puk came in relief of Eckaus.

The Panthers’ fifth run of the ballgame would be an interesting one as the Hurricanes’ bullpen hit three straight hitters, setting up Guida who worked a walk, tying his career-high 50 RBIs and giving FIU a 5-3 lead.

“In the game, I’m not thinking about it as much,” said Guida following the game. “I’m happy that I can contribute and do my part. There have been some games where I’ve had to battle through them and I’m happy that my job is to be clutch get the big hit to be able to execute for the guys and more importantly, beat the team like that.”

Puk would run into trouble, unable to find the strike zone, and ended up walking four Hurricanes. Jaydon Bishop, who entered the game in relief of Puk, allowed the Canes to score on an RBI double.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, an RBI double would score the Hurricanes fourth run of the ballgame, but FIU still led by a run. Miami would tie it on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth.

Up until the top of the seventh, the game was tied at five apiece. Guida led the inning off with a single, advancing to second on an error, then Alex Ulloa tacked on a base hit.

With runners on first and second with no outs, Jeff Liquori took pitcher Chris Diaz deep to right field for an 8-5 lead. Hector Candelas followed up Liquori with a triple and Roney drove him in on a sac fly, giving FIU a 9-5 lead.

“This guy has only a fastball that can beat us and I was on time for it and I got my pitch to hit and we got the result we wanted,” said Liquori following the game.

That was Liquori’s ninth home run of the season and is now slashing .318/.375/.495/.870 with the nine home runs and 44 RBIs. As for Guida, he is now slashing .344/.434/.543/.977 with seven home runs and 50 RBIs.

The Panthers meant business in this Wednesday midweek matchup. Joel Pineiro, FIU’s Saturday night starter was summoned in the bottom of the seventh inning. Zac Lampton would follow Pineiro as the Panthers secured the big-time win against the Hurricanes.

“We had that plan coming into it,” said Witten. “Joel was going to be available out of the bullpen and we’re looking to make sure we’re preparing for the conference tournament as well where different things can happen. It was good to get him experience out of the bullpen. That could be a role later in the year because you never know what can happen when you get into tournament play.”

Witten also spoke about Lampton and the type of pitcher he’s been for the program this season.

“Zach Lampton is a guy that has been an absolute X factor for us. He has stepped up in the biggest way possible. I’m so proud of him. You’re looking up and (Ryan) Cabarcas is pretty banged up right now and Orland Hernandez is pretty banged up right now. Those guys we’re gonna get back, but they weren’t live and ready to go today. They needed to continue to recover. We had the plan that Joel and Lampton could finish the back third if we got in a good place.”

This season, Lampton has posted a 3.12 ERA, 12.5 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and two saves through 401. innings pitched. Witten calling Lampton an “X-Factor” is just one way you can say that the redshirt senior has helped out the team.

Despite the win, the Panthers’ pitching staff struggled. As a staff, they walked a total of 11 hitters. On the other side, the Hurricanes’ pitching staff walked a total of five hitters but did have four hit-by pitches. Between both teams, they allowed 19 free passes.

With the win, FIU moves up to 25-22 and will take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats in their final Conference USA weekend series of the year. The Panthers and Hurricanes will square off for one final matchup in the 305 on Wednesday, May 14 at 6:00 pm.