MIAMI, FL—While the latest weekend series for FIU Baseball didn’t start well, the Panthers doubled down and won the series over the New Mexico State Aggies.
As we get closer to the home stretch of the regular season – featuring matchups against some of the best teams in Conference USA – FIU needs to enter it on a high note. Ultimately, their bats are up to the task and were on full display against the Aggies. Pitching started slow but impressed in the Saturday and Sunday contests.
Off the rip, one Panther that’s been on a remarkable heater is Kishon Frett. In this series alone, the redshirt senior outfielder collected five hits, six RBIs, and FOUR HOME RUNS. For his efforts, he earned the CUSA Hitter Of The Week Honors – his second weekly award of the season.
Game One was nothing to write home about. New Mexico State got out to a 5-0 lead through four innings, thanks in part to a few FIU errors. The Panthers did mount a worthwhile comeback, however, with three runs in the fourth inning. Frett launched his first home run of the series in the eighth, which cut NM State’s lead to 5-4. However, one more insurance run from the Aggies in the ninth was enough to take FIU down.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Despite the first game being close on the scoreboard, the next two were certified blowouts. Game Two featured a 2-2 tie after the first inning, but the Panthers scored six unanswered runs after that. Frett led the way with two homers – the former in the top of the first, and the latter in the fourth.
On the mound, Owen Puk had arguably his best game as a Panther. In four innings of work, he struck out nine batters, his best single-game performance. In the end, FIU cruised to the tune of an 8-2 win to even the series.
In Game Three, it was never really that close. After the Panthers got out to a 5-0 lead, the Aggies responded with a single run in the sixth. FIU then scored four more runs to keep it a blowout to win the series by a score of 9-2.
On the mound, Juan Villarreal dominated in his third start of the season, allowing no runs in 4.2 innings alongside seven strikeouts. Ildefonso led a deadly offense for FIU with a two-hit, four-RBI performance, including a two-run moonshot in the seventh.
With the series win, the Panthers improve their overall record to 22-13 and conference record to 6-5. They’ll head to Fort Meyers for a midweek matchup against the FGCU Eagles on Tuesday, April 15th at 6:30pm. They’ll then start a new CUSA series in Georgia against Kennesaw State on Thursday.
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