Friday, January 31, 2003

Golden Panthers win on strength of nine runs in the 7th
Box Score

lorida International University defeated Eastern Michigan on the strength of a wild seventh inning, and held on to win, 13-5, at University Park Friday night. The Golden Panthers scored nine runs in the bottom of the seventh, blowing open what had been a 4-3 deficit.

The rally was keyed by senior outfielder Solomon Frieder's single to right field to lead off the inning. Junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita advanced Frieder when he grounded out to third, sophomore catcher Adrian Casanova walked and junior outfielder Fernando Alvarez advanced both Frieder and Casanova when he grounded out to first.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Golden Panthers recorded eight hits and a walk to blow the game open with nine runs. Senior infielder Skip Adams hit a 2 RBI single to start the scoring and freshman infielder Bryan Pullin followed it up with a single of his own. Pullin and Adams advanced due to a wild pitch and sophomore infielder Dennis Diaz tripled to bring them both home. After a pitching change, senior outfielder Adam Summerell got an RBI single, freshman infielder Luis Rivera singled to bring freshman pinch runner Yahmed Yema to second and Frieder singled to center, scoring Yema. After another pitching change, Nanita drew a walk and Casanova doubled to left center, scoring all three runners. Alvarez flied out to end the inning.

Sophomore righthander Derek DeCarlo (Miami, Southridge HS) got the start, and earned his second straight no-decision with 4.2 innings pitched, six hits allowed, and six strikeouts. Freshman righthander Frank Gonzalez (Hialeah, Fla., Monsignor Pace) nabbed a win in his first collegiate appearance, pitching 3.1 innings, striking out two and allowing no runs.

The Golden Panthers take on Eastern Michigan in game two of the series tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. For ticket information, call 866-FIU-GAME.