FIU baseball team looking to build momentum after finally beating Hurricanes
For FIU baseball coach Rich Witten, beating the Miami Hurricanes isn’t necessarily bigger than any other win, but he admits it was huge for just about everyone around him.
Wednesday’s 9-7 win was FIU’s first victory over Miami since 2018. The Panthers had lost 12 straight games to Miami.
“I was happy for our players,” Witten said. “You could see the looks on their faces when the final out was made.
“We had lost a lot of heartbreakers to them over the years, and you could tell by the volume of text messages I had on my phone on my drive home that this was also a big game for our alumni and fans. They were fired up.”
FIU (25-25 overall, 11-13 Conference USA) has already clinched a spot in the eight-team C-USA postseason tournament May 22-26 in Ruston, Louisiana.
If the Panthers win that tournament, they would make an NCAA regional for the first time since 2015.
Witten said there are a couple of keys for FIU success.
First, the Panthers are 16-4 when scoring first. Early offense is crucial.
Second, FIU’s top relievers need to get healthy. Witten said Orlando Hernandez (2-1,
1.57 ERA, two saves) and Logan Runde (3-2, 4.62) are expected to be back in time for the C-USA tournament. Both of them have been out for a couple of weeks.
Reliever Ryan Cabarcas (5-4, 3.40, team-high five saves) has been dealing with “bumps and bruises,” Witten said.
FIU has four games left in its regular season, including a home contest against Miami at 6 p.m. Tuesday. FIU will then close its regular season with a three-game set starting Thursday at Iowa.
THIS AND THAT
The Barry women’s tennis team (20-4) advanced to the 16-team national tournament at Altamonte Springs on
May 20-24. Nova Southeastern University (23-4) also advanced to nationals.
The Barry men’s tennis team (15-6), seeded fourth, will host top-seeded Valdosta State of Georgia in the South Regional final Tuesday. The winner goes to nationals.
The NSU softball team (39-13) was eliminated from the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday in Montgomery, Alabama. NSU beat St. Leo 9-2 on Thursday and defeated host and 15thranked Auburn Montgomery 2-0 on Friday.
But Auburn Montgomery then beat NSU 2-0 and 4-0 in the double-elimination tournament.
The Florida Memorial University baseball team (21-26) went 1-2 at the double-elimination Black College World Series in Montgomery.
St. Thomas University (38-10), which last week won the Sun Conference postseason softball tournament for the first time since 2014, made the NAIA national playoffs in Klamath Falls, Oregon. STU (38-10) opened Monday against a California school, Vanguard (40-11).
STU’s rugby team won its bowl game in Houston, beating Air Force, 27-24. STU, a Division I-AA team, made its case to join higher-level teams in D-IA next year. Air Force is a D-IA team.