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Florida Memorial Baseball Ends Historic Season

Florida Memorial University men's baseball season came up a few wins short of what Lions fans were hoping for. A couple of days after the season came to a close, however, it is amazing to look back at one of the most memorable seasons in program history, and one that will be a building block for the future success of the team.
 
Up-and-Down Early Season Schedule
Florida Memorial lost just a handful of key players from last year's team, and returned five key performers. Despite that, those outside of the program predicted the Lions would take a step back in 2018. The team was picked 9th in the preseason TSC poll as conference coaches were not expecting the Lions to make the TSC Tournament.
 
In February and March, Florida Memorial alternated between playing like those preseason expectations, while also showing flashes of its potential. The team was 1-3 before starting conference play, and then was among the early conference leaders with a 6-0 start in TSC action.
 
The team hit its low point of the season in late March however. In TSC game against Ave Maria, the Lions went 2-1 and was blew out in their only lost to Ave Maria. The next weekend, Florida Memorial was swept in a three-game series at St. Thomas. The Lions went 1-1 after that and ended March with a 20-14 overall record and an 11-7 conference mark.
 
Season Turnaround
Florida Memorial's turnaround started on April 3 with a two game series sweep of Edwards Waters.
Florida Memorial earned a series win against their Sun Conference foe Keiser University. In the first game on Friday, the Lions defeated the NAIA's No. 16 ranked Seahawks by the score of 4-2. Saturday's doubleheader action saw Keiser come back winning the second game shutting out FMU 3-0. Florida Memorial rebounded with live bats as they put up a 15-4 win for the tiebreaker, in game three to seal the series win
 
TSC Tournament
In the First game, Florida Memorial made a big statement with a 2-1 win over Keiser University. The Lions were led by Raymond Guerrero's 3-for-4 performance at the plate, and by Christian Rivera on the mound. The right-handed sophomore struck out four while tossing a complete-game victory, moving to 6-2 on the year.

In the second game, the Lions fall 4-3 to Webber International. For the Lions, Sergio Chil's 3-for-4 game at the plate, including his two doubles and an RBI led the way for the Lions. On the mound, Edgar Aparacio struck out four in the loss, pitching eight complete innings before allowing the home run in the ninth, and dropping to 4-3 on the season.
 
In the third game, for the first time in program history, Florida Memorial upsets No. 4 nationally ranked and second-seeded Southeastern University by the score of 7-2.The win marks the first time since the 2012 season that Florida Memorial defeated #4 Southeastern University in a baseball game. FMU snapped an 18-game losing streak against #4 Southeastern. Florida Memorial was led offensively by Yunior Sanchez as he went 4-5 and Chil added three hits and drove in four runs. Ian Romano came out of the bullpen for the final four innings, striking out four while moving to 3-0 on the year.
 
In the fourth game, the Lions fall to St. Thomas University 14-3 in elimination game of The Sun Conference Championship Tournament. The Lions finish their season with a 26-21(13-11 TSC) record. The Lions recorded eight hits on the night, with Yunior Sanchez leading the way with his 3-4 game, including an RBI. The Lions used four pitchers on the night, with starter Kyle Parks striking out two in the loss, dropping to 2-2.
 
 A Balanced Team
One of the best things about the 2018 Lions was that they were a complete team that didn't rely on just a few star players. The offense and fielding ranked in the top-50 in the nation in scoring, while the pitching was in the top-75 in ERA.  Despite being one of the top teams in the league, no players were named to the all-TSC teams.
 
Offensive team leaders for the season included Sergio Chil being first on the squad in batting average (.431), on-base percentage (.486), runs (26), hits (69), RBI (42), and total bases (95) .and in slugging percentage (.561). Darrin Brown led in stolen bases (15).Yunior Sanchez was first on the team in triples (3), Chris Clara led in home runs (6).
 
On the mound, Christian Rivera had a team-high 8 wins and a 3.05 ERA. He also led with a .224 opponent batting average, 76 innings pitched, and 79 strikeouts. Another pitcher that has been productive for FMU all season long is Edgard Aparacio. Aparacio is nationally ranked in the top 15 in three pitching categories. He ranks third in hits allowed per nine, fifth in opponent batting average, and thirteenth in total hits allowed.
 
Head Coach Florentino Burgos
The leader of the 2018 Florida Memorial team was head coach Florentino Burgos. Burgos completed his second season as a Lion, and he has now won 36 games at the school. He helped the program to a 26-21 overall finish, his first 20-win season at Florida Memorial and the first since 2010. Burgos led the program to a +14 game improvement over last year, and had 16 more wins than its previous high since joining the team.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Darrin Brown

#28 Darrin Brown

LF
6' 2"
Freshman
Sergio Chil

#12 Sergio Chil

1B
5' 11"
Junior
Chris Clara

#34 Chris Clara

RHP/OF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Raymond Guerrero

#1 Raymond Guerrero

CF
6' 0"
Sophomore
Kyle Parks

#38 Kyle Parks

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
Ian Romano

#26 Ian Romano

RHP
6' 2"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Darrin Brown

#28 Darrin Brown

6' 2"
Freshman
LF
Sergio Chil

#12 Sergio Chil

5' 11"
Junior
1B
Chris Clara

#34 Chris Clara

5' 10"
Sophomore
RHP/OF
Raymond Guerrero

#1 Raymond Guerrero

6' 0"
Sophomore
CF
Kyle Parks

#38 Kyle Parks

6' 0"
Junior
RHP
Ian Romano

#26 Ian Romano

6' 2"
Senior
RHP