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Saturday, May 18, 2002
FIU offensive explosion
buries Middle Tennessee, 24-8
 IU
banged out 24 hits and broke a 22-year-old school record with
eight home runs in its 24-8 Sun Belt Conference victory over
Middle Tennessee (26-27, 8-15 SBC), Saturday at University Park.
Brad Eldred (Coconut Creek, Fla.) hit three homers
giving him the all-time conference record for most in a single
season with 27. He drove in eight runs. Tommy Duenas (Miami,
Fla./Coral Gables) went 5-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI
as the Golden Panthers catcher raised his season batting average
to .408 heading into the final day of the regular season, Sunday.
FIU (38-16, 12-11 SBC) battered seven Blue Raider pitchers
with at least one hit in every inning and batting around the
order on three occasions including sending 16 hitters to the
plate in a 10-run seventh inning.
"Things certainly went our way today," said FIU
head coach Danny Price. "We got the ball up and out
of the ball park and that's exactly what we needed to do."
With the win, the Golden Panthers clinched the fourth seed
for next week's Sun Belt Conference Championships in Mobile,
Ala. But more importantly, it guaranteed at least a .500 league
record needed for at-large consideration by the NCAA when regional
selections are announced on May 27.
"I want to finish out the season first, then see where
we stand with the NCAA," said Price. "We were No. 30
in the RPI a week ago and since then, we've gone 2-1. We've got
to finish strong. The NCAA likes to look at how you did in your
last 10 games of the season, so we're in an important stretch."
Carlos Sanchez (Miami, Fla./Miami Christian) started
and pitched the first 5.1 innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits,
yet still picked up to win and raised his record to 6-0 on the
campaign.
The Golden Panthers had back-to-back home runs twice, first
in the fourth inning when Eldred and Hector Nunez (Hialeah,
Fla./Goleman) went long. Two batters later, Duenas hit one of
his own, giving FIU an early 12-2 lead.
FIU took it to four different MT relievers in the seventh,
with Eldred and Nunez going back-to-back again and Duenas, two
batters later, connecting for his 10 homer of the season. Later
that inning, it was Eldred again going deep, tying a long-standing
school record for a player with two home runs in one inning and
a team record with the four.
For the game, the eight homers broke the previous record of
seven, set while FIU was a Division II program against Spring
Arbor College on April 2, 1980.
The Blue Raiders did finish with 11 hits of their own, paced
by Chuck Akers who had three safeties with a home run, three
runs scored and an RBI.
FIU and Middle Tennessee conclude the regular season Sunday
afternoon, 1 p.m., at University Park. |