Sunday, May 4, 2003

FIU drops Sunday match-up with South Alabama, 5-3
Box Score

The Florida International baseball team couldn’t build off the momentum of Saturday afternoon’s victory, falling 5-3 to South Alabama Sunday afternoon at University Park. The loss gave the Jaguars (33-14, 12-6) the series two games to one and dropped the Golden Panthers to 30-19 overall and 8-10 in the Sun Belt Conference.

South Alabama got on the board quickly, as T.J. Touchstone led off the game with a home run. After a single and a walk, Ryan Mulhern doubled in a run and Josh Touchstone knocked in a run with a groundout. After another single, Mulhern scored on a fielder’s choice, giving the Jaguars a 4-0 lead.

The Golden Panthers would then hold USA’s offense in check, as freshman right-hander Ammer Cabrera came in to pitch five straight innings of scoreless ball, giving up just two walks, three hits and one earned run in six innings overall.

The score remained the same until the fifth inning, when a three-run home run by junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita drew the Golden Panthers to within a run. Back-to-back singles by freshman infielders Luis Rivera and Michael Lopez set up the home runs, Nanita’s team-leading 11th of the season.

The Jaguars got some breathing room in the eighth inning. With two outs, T.J. Touchstone singled and Cole Craig walked. Jason Gross then got a base hit and an RBI, scoring Touchstone from second.

From there, Jaguar relief pitcher Billy Fullam finished the game. Fullam entered the contest in the fifth inning and earned the victory, giving up just two hits and no runs through four and two-thirds innings.

The Golden Panthers next take to the road for a three-game conference series with New Orleans. The opening game is scheduled for Friday night at 6:30 p.m.