Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Golden Panthers defeat Owls in pitching duel
Box Score

In a game featuring two top-25 teams and two of the top pitchers in the nation, #25 Florida International and #21 Florida Atlantic delivered to the tune of a Golden Panther 4-0 victory in Boca Raton, Wednesday night. The pitcher’s duel between FIU’s Josh Banks (junior) and FAU’s Danny Core (senior) saw 23 total strikeouts and only three walks as each team had trouble hitting the other team’s ace.

The pace of the game was established early on as Core allowed only one hit and struck out one and Banks retired the side in the first inning. Still, neither pitcher had hit his stride yet.

In the top of the second inning, senior infielder Skip Adams broke the stalemate with a towering homerun to left field. The homerun was Adams’ second of the season, and gave him the team lead in that category.

With FIU leading 1-0, both pitchers got into a groove. Core struck out the next two batters and forced freshman infielder Luis Rivera to ground out to end the top half of the inning. Banks answered in the bottom half, fanning two and getting another to fly out to left.

From that point on, both pitchers put on an exhibition. Core struck out two and got another out on a bunt attempt, and Banks struck out three straight to preserve the lead. At the end of three, each pitcher had hurled five strikeouts.

Junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita added another strikeout to Core’s count in the top of the fourth. Junior outfielder Fernando Alvarez then flew out to right field and Adams grounded out to the pitcher.

Banks followed that up by striking out two and getting another to ground out. The junior righthander finished the fourth inning with seven strikeouts, two hits given up and no walks.

In the top of the fifth, Core struck out two more FIU batters, and got Rivera to pop up to first. After five innings, Core had thrown eight strikeouts and had also given up no walks.

Banks once again answered in the bottom half, retiring the side once again, and both pitchers dominated in the sixth to set up a wild seventh inning.

Adams walked at the top of the inning (the first walk of the game for Core), and freshman outfielder Yahmed Yema hit a sac bunt down the leftfield line, advancing Adams to second base. After a Michael New strikeout, Rivera hit a single to leftfield, and controversy erupted.

Adams attempted to reach home on the play, but was blocked by Owl catcher Robert Orton. Adams ran into Orton and Orton dropped the ball, giving Adams a run. The controversy centered around whether Adams needed to attempt to slide on the play.
Home plate Umpire Phil Martucci conferred with the other umpires and both coaches before the run was ruled valid.

“We were told at the beginning of the year to run through when the play is close,” Adams said. “We’re taught to just play hard in that situation. One guy wins, and one guy loses.”

Sophomore infielder Dennis Diaz closed out the scoring in the seventh by hitting an RBI single to left center. Ramirez, who had advanced to second on the previous play, got to third and rounded for home when the second baseman launched an errant throw towards first, giving Ramirez the run.

With the score 3-0, Banks pitched the next two innings, giving up no hits and striking out one. Core was replaced in the eighth.

Yema provided the final run of the evening. After drawing a walk, he advanced to second courtesy of a New groundout, and then scored on a Rivera double to left center field.

Freshman righthander Edgar Ramirez finished the game for the Golden Panthers, retiring three straight batters in the ninth inning to preserve the FIU win.

Banks set a career high with eight innings pitched, gave up no runs, allowed two hits, walked one and fanned nine. On the season, Banks is 1-0 in three starts with 22 innings pitched, a 0.00 ERA, five hits, four walks and 31 strikeouts. Core hurled seven innings, giving up three earned runs, walking one and striking out ten.

“Josh (Banks) was really sharp tonight,” FIU head coach Danny Price said. “We’re pleased to get this win.”

FIU returns home to host Sienna this weekend at University Park. Game one is set for 7:00 p.m. Friday. The game will be broadcast on Radiate 88, FIU’s student radio station, and on La Ponderosa WWFE (670 AM). The student broadcast can be heard on 88.1 FM in Miami or on the Internet at http://wrgp.fiu.edu/sports.