Friday, February 14, 2003

FIU Baseball wins eighth of year, 8-2 over Siena
Box Score

Adam Summerell hit a towering homerun in the fourth inning and Florida International built a six run lead over the course of two innings as the Golden Panthers handed Siena an 8-2 loss in the Saints’ season opener Friday night at University Park.

The homerun was the second of the season for the senior right-fielder from Monrovia, Calif., and it gave FIU its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Summerell’s longball ignited the Golden Panthers’ offense, setting off a flurry of scoring over the next two innings.

Freshman infielder James Bacon singled to right center, and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Siena’s starting pitcher, Jeremy Cabot. Freshman infielder Luis Rivera knocked Bacon home with a single to center and later stole second base. With Rivera on second, freshman outfielder Brian Aragon got hit by a pitch, and freshman infielder Michael Lopez drew a walk, loading the bases. Junior catcher Mario Monreal promptly hit into a potential 6-4-3 double play, but the throw to first base was wild, so only Lopez at second was thrown out, two runs scored, and Monreal moved ahead to second.

Leading 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Golden Panthers added some insurance runs. Summerell doubled down the leftfield line to start things off, and promptly stole third. After Bacon drew a walk, he stole second. A passed ball scored Summerell and advanced Bacon to third. Rivera followed that up with a sacrifice fly to center field, knocking Bacon home.

Each team added a run down the stretch. With a man on third in the sixth inning, Siena outfielder Shawn Hampton hit an RBI double. FIU answered with a Lopez RBI single in eighth, the final run of the ballgame.

Sophomore ace Derek DeCarlo picked up his first decision of the season, hurling seven innings, striking out nine and giving up two runs in the win. The performance was his best of the year, despite another shaky start.

Siena got to DeCarlo in the first inning and grabbed an early 1-0 lead. The Saints started things off with a Kevin Roberts walk. Roberts reached second on a wild pitch, and then Bill Lazzio singled down the rightfield line, scoring Roberts.

The lead was short-lived as FIU answered in the bottom half. Sophomore infielder Dennis Diaz singled to right field, stole second, and then also stole third. Junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita knocked him home with an RBI single to tie the score at 1-1. From there, DeCarlo settled down and the Golden Panthers cruised to the win.

FIU earned six stolen bases in the game; two came courtesy of team leader Diaz (five steals on six attempts this season). Senior rhp Peter Kocur saw his first game action of the year, pitching two innings in relief and allowing no runs. Summerell finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a home run. Rivera added to his team-leading RBI total by earning two more tonight. He currently has 13 on the year.

Florida International and Siena next face off Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at University Park.