Golden Panthers' comeback bid falls short against Seton Hall

Sunday March 9, 2003

Golden Panthers' comeback bid falls short against Seton Hall
Box Score

The Florida International baseball team fell behind 6-0 to Seton Hall Sunday afternoon at Homestead, Fla. before scoring four runs and coming up just short in a rally attempt, losing 6-4. The comeback was keyed by two home runs and solid pitching by two FIU hurlers.

Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, FIU came back with its first home run of the evening. Freshman infielder Mike Lopez (.412, three doubles, 11 RBI) led-off the inning with a shot to left center field, his second of the year.

In the sixth inning, junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita drew a walk before senior infielder Skip Adams hit a home run to right field, cutting the lead to 6-3. The home run gave Adams five dingers and 20 RBI on the season, both team-highs.

FIU continued to rally in the ninth. Lopez, who finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and one home run, singled through the left side and then advanced to second on a passed ball. At that point, sophomore Dennis Diaz singled up the middle to get him home. With the score now 6-4, freshman outfielder Yahmed Yema reached base on balls and freshman infielder Bryan Pullin singled down the right field line to load the bases. The Golden Panthers couldn’t muster another hit though, and came up just short on a groundout.

Seton Hall took the lead early with two runs in the top of the first inning. Josh Schuck and Casey Grimm hit back-to-back RBI-doubles to account for the scores.

The Pirates then added a run in the third inning, courtesy of a Lou Santangelo RBI fielder’s choice.

Three batters later, Justin Kelemen extended the lead to 6-0 on a bases clearing double. The play was set up when, with two outs, the Golden Panthers committed an error to load the bases for Kelemen. The three runs proved to be more than the difference in the game.

Both junior pitchers for FIU, Arthur Santos (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 BB) and Luis Gazitua (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO) tossed their best games of the year in the loss. The Golden Panthers take on Seton Hall again tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. at University Park.