FIU Baseball Kicked Out of Winners Bracket By DBU

Looking to stay in the winner’s bracket after a come-from-behind win on Wednesday, the FIU Panthers had to take on the Dallas Baptist Patriots, the number two seed in the tournament.

The Patriots were the runner-ups in the 2023 CUSA tournament, losing to the Charlotte 49ers. The Patriots also swept the Panthers during the regular season and kept it going on Thursday, shutting down FIU’s bats and knocking them into the loser’s bracket by a score of 8-2.

Call it a good or bad omen if you will, but this game was originally scheduled for 1pm Eastern Time. Because of bad weather in Ruston, Louisiana, not just last night but also this morning, the game was pushed to a primetime first pitch.

Starting for the Panthers was junior Owen Puk. After seeming to have found his footing in his last two outings, Puk struggled massively tonight giving up three runs off of four hits and two walks. He did not strike out a single hitter.

In the bottom of the first, Miguel Santos drove in Michael Dattalo to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead. In the inning that followed, Luke Heefner hit a two-run homer to extend the lead, 3-0. After a sac fly to tack on the fourth run of the game, DBU would score four more to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

Unlike their last meeting in Miami, the Panthers were able to get to freshman Jerrod Jenkins, taking him on for five hits, but FIU was unable to get anything going.

Jenkins, who struggles with command and control, took advantage of the Panthers’ aggressive approach. In the top of the third inning, where the Panthers went 1-2-3, they all fell behind the count, 0-2 in their respective at-bats.

The DBU starter ended up going six innings of shutout baseball, giving up five hits, two walks, and struck out eight Panthers. In relief of Jenkins, the Patriots went with Nick Wilson who shut out the Panthers’ lineup despite giving up two base hits and a walk.

In the top of the eighth inning, Armando Becerra led the inning off with a base hit and Alex Ulloa hit a two-run homer to put them within six of the lead, but it ended up not being enough.

The Panthers will now have to play on Friday in a rematch against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

WKU is coming off a strong 8-2 win over the New Mexico State Aggies. The loser of Friday’s game will be eliminated from the tournament.