Riverdale, NY (March 19, 2004)-Baseball lost to Florida Internationaltoday, 8-4, in Miami, FL. The loss drops the Jaspers to 4-9 on the season while the Golden Panthers improve to 13-16.
FIU held a brief 2-0 lead until the fifth inning when the Jaspers' got on the board with a
Matt Cucurullo solo home run. The Jaspers took a 3-2 lead in the sixth, capitalizing on a FIU error and three singles against FIU starting pitcher Andrew Edwards and reliever Leo Calderon.
With one out, in the seventh, the Golden Panthers sent seven-straight batters to the plate. In the inning, FIU freshman Eduardo Davila walked and stole second to start the rally. Next, junior Dennis Diaz struck out; however, he reached first on a wild pitch for the second time on the contest, advancing Davila to third. Next, senior P.J. Lehmann extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a RBI single through the right side, which prompted a pitching change for the visiting Jaspers. With the contest, tied at 3-3, freshman Cody Jacobs broke out of a brief 0-for-10 slump with a RBI single to take a 4-3 lead. Following a Yahmed Yema walk, the bases were loaded for Michael Lopez. The Jaspers'
Steve Bronder uncorked a wild pitch to extend the FIU lead to 6-3. Next, Lopez delivered a two-RBI single through the right side to score Yema and pinch runner Eric Otero, giving FIU a 7-3 lead. The Golden Panthers added their
final run on a RBI single by Brian Aragon, scoring Lopez.
Jaspers' designated hitter
Matt Cucurullo and shortstop
Sam Deluca contributed two hits apiece in a losing cause. Starting pitcher
Mike Parisi had a tough outing pitching 6 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and striking out eight in the loss.
The two teams will meet up again on Saturday at 1 p.m. at University Park.
