FIU Completes Sweep of Troy

Sunday, April 8

Miami, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Troy University

FIU

Joe Hernandez

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

4/8/2012 4:36:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

BOX SCORE

MIAMI – Joe Hernandez turned in a solid start on the mound for Troy, but it was not enough as FIU completed its three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep of the Trojans with a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon at University Park.

Hernandez, who was making his first career Sun Belt start, held the high-powered FIU offense to just three runs on four hits over 5.1 innings of work. He struck out five and was saddled with the hard-luck loss.

FIU (19-13, 7-5 Sun Belt) took the lead in the third inning and held off threat after threat by Troy (13-18, 3-9). A lead-off walk and a one-out double by Julius Gaines gave the Panthers a pair of runners in scoring position for the top of the order. Nathan Burns put FIU on the board with a sacrifice fly and two batters later Pablo Bermudez singled home Gaines.

Logan Pierce, who saw his 20-game hit streak come to an end in the game, cut the deficit in half with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Jakob Nixon led off the frame with a single and Tyler Hannah reached on an FIU error; the pair moved up a base on a wild pitch.

Jabari Henry, who had nine RBIs and three home runs in the first two games of the series, cashed in on an RBI opportunity with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to push FIU back in front by two, 3-1.

The cat-and-mouse game continued in Troy's half of the seventh following back-to-back singles by Clay Holcomb and Nixon; Holcomb moved to third on Nixon's single as the Trojans dialed up a hit-and-run. Hannah fouled out to right field but deep enough for Holcomb to tag and score.

The Panthers pushed across a much needed insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. T.J. Shantz led off the frame reaching on a pop up that the Troy infield lost in the sun. Bermudez sacrificed him to second and Mike Martinez drew a walk. Henry then reached on an infield single that could have easily been ruled an error and Aramis Garcia scored Shantz on a fielder's choice.

Troy had six hits in the game and drew seven walks from five FIU pitchers. However, the Trojans stranded 10 base runners in the game and 34 over the three-game series. Troy left runners in scoring position in four different innings Sunday afternoon.

R.J. Fondon (4-3) was credited with the win for FIU after he allowed one run and scattered three hits. He struck out six and walked three over 5.1 innings of work. Michael Gomez picked up his Sun Belt leading eighth save after working around some control issues in the ninth; of his 17 pitches only eight were strikes.

The Trojans return home for four games next week beginning with in-state rival Jacksonville State on Tuesday before hosting Sun Belt foe Middle Tennessee for three games over the weekend.