By Brett Shweky/Editor
Following their midweek defeat against Miami, the FIU Panthers are set to take a road trip to Alabama as they face off against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a three-game weekend series.
Friday’s opening game will mark the third straight season the two teams will play one another with FIU holding a 2-4 record during the span.
Left-hander Logan Allen (1-1, 3.27 ERA) will take the mound for the Panthers as he squares off against right-hander Garrett Farmer (1-0, 0.75 ERA).
Farmer (1-0, 0.75) leads the Gamecocks in strikeouts with 10 after starting two games for them this season. In his 12.0 innings pitched, Farmer has restricted opponents to just five hits and one run so far in 2018.
Right-hander Nick MacDonald (0-0, 1.67 ERA) will get the nod for FIU on Saturday against Jacksonville State’s right-hander Trey Fortner.
Sunday’s closing game is set to feature Will Saxton (0-1, 12.00 ERA), the Panthers’ left-hander, while the Gamecocks have yet to announce their final starter.
The Panthers’ pitching staff has compiled 77 K’s to begin the 2019 season along with averaging 11.2 strikeouts per game.
In their last outing on Wednesday, the Panthers (3-4) fell 10-8 to the Hurricanes at the FIU Baseball Stadium despite a late-game effort by the home team where they scored six unanswered runs.
Miami and FIU will face off one last time this season on Wednesday, April 24 in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes earned their first victory against the Panthers since the 2017 campaign.
Catcher Javier Valdes went three-for-four with four RBI, two runs and a home run in the contest to help fuel the potential comeback for FIU.
Third baseman Austin Shenton and right fielder Seth Cannady also recorded homers in the game for the Panthers.
Throughout the beginning of the season, left fielder Lorenzo Hampton Jr. has paced the FIU bats by leading the squad in hits (13), batting average (.481), runs (10), doubles (5) and slugging percentage (.852).
Hampton Jr., along with second baseman Derek Cartaya, are the only two Panther batters to advance to base in every game this season.
FIU’s bats are averaging 7.0 runs per outing which places them fifth in Conference USA.
For Jacksonville State (4-5), the Gamecocks enter the contest fresh off back-to-back wins having beaten UAB on Tuesday and also Troy on Wednesday.
Outfielder Tre Kirklin has consistently generated offense for Jacksonville State in the early stages of the season with him leading the team in hits (11).
Nic Gaddis, the Gamecocks’ catcher, places first on the team in runs scored (8) and has also recorded 10 hits and six RBI to help contribute to their hitting.
First pitch for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m., while the Saturday and Sunday contests will be at 2 p.m.
