Saturday, March 15, 2003

Banks hurls Florida International past Rider, 2-0
Box Score

Photo by Geoff Anderson Junior right-hander Josh Banks struck out ten batters on his way to a complete game shutout.

The Florida International baseball team defeated Rider University 2-0 Saturday afternoon at University Park. The game was dominated by good pitching as Golden Panther Josh Banks improved to 4-1 on the year in a shutout performance.

The junior right-hander became the second hurler on the staff to earn a complete game this year, going nine innings with zero walks and ten strikeouts. On the year, Banks holds a 1.75 ERA with 56 strikeouts and just seven walks in 51 and a third innings.

Each team’s pitcher dominated play early, as neither team could manage a run through three and a half innings. For the Broncs, James Hoey allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out two through three innings. Banks trumped him by giving up just one hit and no walks while striking out five through four innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, FIU got on the board, thanks to a sacrifice fly from senior infielder Skip Adams. The scoring play was set up by back-to-back singles from freshman infielders Luis Rivera and Mike Lopez. Junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita then walked before Adams knocked Rivera home.

Lopez came back in the sixth inning to reach on a fielder’s choice. After he stole second, he reached third on a wild pitch. Adams then recorded his second RBI of the game, singling through the left side to score Lopez.

Trailing 2-0 with one out in the ninth inning, the Broncs generated back-to-back hits to threaten the Golden Panther lead. However, Banks struck out his tenth batter of the game and got the final batter to fly out to end the contest.

The Golden Panthers next host Kansas State Sunday at 12:00. The game will be broadcast on Radiate 88, FIU’s student radio station, and on Spanish Radio WRHC 1550 AM. The student broadcast can be heard on 88.1 FM in Miami or on the Internet at http://wrgp.fiu.edu/sports.