Friday, May 9, 2003

Santos hurls FIU past New Orleans
Box Score

Guided by another solid pitching performance from junior right-hander Arthur Santos (Miami/Barbara Goleman), the Florida International baseball team defeated New Orleans 5-1 Friday evening in New Orleans. Santos, who won last weekend as well, is the only starting pitcher on the FIU staff to record a win in the past three weeks and has lowered his ERA in five consecutive outings.

FIU (31-19, 9-10 SBC) jumped out early with an assist from the Privateers. Freshman infielder Luis Rivera led off the game by reaching first and advancing to second base on an error. Freshman infielder Mike Lopez moved him to third with a groundout and then freshman infielder Bryan Pullin singled to score him and give the Golden Panthers a 1-0 lead.

They added to their lead in the fourth inning, going up 2-0. The run was keyed by junior outfielder Ricardo Nanita. He first singled up the middle. Nanita then stole second and advanced to third on an error. Senior outfielder Solomon Frieder sent him home with a triple.

Frieder then added another score with a solo home run, his second of the season, in the sixth inning to give FIU a three-run lead. The Golden Panthers benefited from another solo home run in the seventh inning, this one courtesy of Pullin, extending their lead to 4-0.

New Orleans (21-28, 5-14 SBC) got on the board in the eighth inning due to some timely hitting and a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Drew Pizza led the inning off with a single to right center. Joe Pietro then doubled to put runners on third and second with no outs. FIU sophomore right-hander Derek DeCarlo then came in relief and promptly threw a wild pitch, scoring Pizza from third. The Miami native (Southridge) then settled down and retired three straight batters.

Senior catcher Michael New quickly got FIU the run back, leading off the ninth inning with a home run, FIU’s third of the evening.

DeCarlo then retired the final three UNO batters to end the game and earn his second career save. Santos finished with five strikeouts and no walks in seven innings of work.

The Golden Panthers next take on the Privateers Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.