Monday, March 4, 2002

FIU collects second consecutive shut out defeating Lehigh, 7-0

lorida International (12-4) shut out their second consecutive opponent defeating Lehigh (4-2-1) 7-0 Tuesday night at University Park. It marked the first time since 1995 the Golden Panthers recorded back-to-back shut outs. It was also the first time the schools had met. FIU starter Luis Gazitua collected his first win of the year (1-0) and Bernie Gonzalez, Brad Eldred, and Tommy Duenas each solo home runs.

Gonzalez and Eldred each hit RBI singles in the first scoring Dean Adams and Hector Nunez to give the Golden Panthers the early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and scored on Duenas' RBI single to left field to increase the lead to 3-0. Duenas extended his hitting streak to nine with the single.

Eldred hit a solo home run in the sixth, his fifth of the year, increasing the lead to 4-0.

Gazitua was replaced in the seventh by Carlos Sanchez after pitching 6.1 innings allowing only two hits while striking out nine.

Dennis Diaz scored the fifth run in the seventh on a Dean Adams groundout to the Lehigh shortstop Anthony Piccola.

In the eighth Gonzalez hit a solo home run his second of the year and Duenas added another solo home run for his third of the year.

FIU will return to action Thursday night at University Park against La Salle at 7pm.