St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Florida International
St. John's Falls to FIU, 11-4
2/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2005
Queens, NY - For the third time in six games, the FIU baseball team posted a six-run inning en route to an 11-4 win over St. John's on Saturday afternoon at University Park. The win is the seventh in a row for the Golden Panthers, who raise their record to 9-3. St. John's drops to 1-4 with the loss.
FIU senior David Asher gave up his first earned runs of the season, ending a 30-inning streak, in the win. The senior is now 4-0 on the season with a 1.06 ERA, following the contest. He pitched eight strong innings, scattering eight hits, walking two and striking out six in a winning cause. St. John's starter Anthony Vavaro drops to 0-1 after a five inning outing, allowing eight hits, seven runs - all earned, walking one and striking out four.
Golden Panthers' senior Dennis Diaz went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI in the win. He sparked the FIU six-run third inning with a two-run home run. Plus, in the eighth, he added a two-RBI single for insurance runs. Joining Diaz with a pair of hits were juniors Yosvel Barroso and Yahmed Yema to lead a FIU attack that recorded 11 hits. It is the sixth time in the last seven games where the Golden Panthers have pounded out ten-plus hits.
After Diaz hit the two-run shot in the third, later in the inning, sophomore Cody Jacobs hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season - a three-run shot that stretched the FIU margin to 6-0.
The Red Storm started a comeback in the fifth inning on the strength of three singles and a stolen base, cutting the FIU lead to 6-2. A solo home run by Yema extended the Golden Panthers' lead in the bottom half of the inning to 7-2. Red Storm left fielder Will Vogl scored his first of two runs in the sixth after leading off the inning with a triple. He added a solo shot in the eighth, trimming the FIU lead to 7-4.
Clinging to a three-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Golden Panthers plated four runs for the game's final margin of 11-4. After a pair of FIU batters were hit by a pitch by Red Storm reliever James Lally, Diaz delivered a two-RBI single to give the Golden Panthers a 9-4 lead. A RBI groundout by Randy Youtsey and a RBI double by Michael Lopez stretched the Golden Panthers lead to 11-4.
With FIU holding a seven-run advantage, the Golden Panthers brought in junior Frank Gonzalez to pitch the ninth. He sent the Red Storm down in order to preserve the win.
FIU will look for its eighth win a row, third series sweep in a row in the series finale at 1 p.m. at University Park. Taking the mound for FIU will be freshman Elih Villanueva, who maintains a 3-1 record with a 1.75 ERA. Scheduled to pitch for the Red Storm is senior Jim Wladyka, who is 0-0 with a 1.59 ERA.
