Sunday, February 23, 2003

FIU loses Bethune-Cookman series with 5-4 loss
Box Score

Coming off its second loss of the season, the Florida International baseball team couldn’t rebound Sunday against Bethune-Cookman, losing 5-4 to give BCC the series two games to one. Wildcat pitcher John Gragg pitched nine innings of four-run, eight-strikeout ball, and the Golden Panthers committed five errors in the loss.

For the third straight game, the Wildcats scored first. In the top of the first inning, infielder Brad Frick doubled to lead the game off. He was then brought home by a throwing error to third.

They added to their lead in the fifth inning when Gragg, who pitched and batted, doubled down the right-field line to send home two. In addition to his game on the mound, Gragg went 2-for-3 on the day with two RBI.

The Golden Panthers got on the board in the bottom half of the fifth inning, cutting the lead to 3-1. Senior catcher Michael New got hit by a pitch to lead thing off, then advanced to second on a balk. After that, he advanced to third on a groundout, and was finally brought home by sophomore infielder Dennis Diaz, who singled through the right side.

BCC added another run in seventh inning, scoring another unearned run on an error. They followed that up with an earned run in the eighth when Bryan Maples singled home Roberto Rodriguez, who had reached third in unorthodox fashion. He first got hit by a pitch, then advanced to second on a wild pitch before finally getting to third on a groundout.

Down 5-1, FIU got its second run of the game in the second half of the eighth when senior outfielder Adam Summerell drove home Diaz with a single through the left side.

In the ninth inning, the Golden Panthers rallied. Senior outfielder Solomon Frieder drew a walk, and then senior catcher Michael New hit a home run, his second of the year and of the series, to bring the score to 5-4 with no outs. After a groundout, freshman infielder David San Juan got hit by a pitch, and two batters later he stole second. Freshman infielder Bryan Pullin then walked, but Gragg struck out the final batter to earn the victory.

Junior right-hander Andrew Edwards got the start for the Golden Panthers. In his second appearance of the season, he went three innings, giving up no earned runs, one walk, one hit, and struck out one. The Golden Panthers next face Florida Atlantic, for the third time in as many weeks, Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Boca Raton. The game will be broadcast on Radiate 88, FIU’s student radio station. The student broadcast can be heard on 88.1 FM in Miami or on the Internet at http://wrgp.fiu.edu/sports.