HARDEEVILLE, SC. – After falling in a five-run hole in fourth inning Florida Memorial University tried to put on their rally hats to make a comeback but it fell just short, as the Lions fell 10-8 to host University of South Carolina-Beaufort Friday night at the Richard Gray Baseball Complex.
FMU's bats were alive early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and scoring one run in the tops of the second and third innings as well. However, USC-Beaufort's bats had the same – if not more – juice. The Sharks responded to Florida Memorial's early scoring run with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, five in the second, and tacked on three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 10-5 lead.
To their credit, the Lions (1-6, 0-1 Sun Conference) pitching started to pick up once FMU head coach Florentino "Tino" Burgos brought in
Krystian Negron from the bullpen. Negron pitched three full innings, holding USC-Beaufort scoreless throughout and only giving up one hit, which opened the door for FMU's rally attempt.
The Lions, who wlll play a doubleheader against the Sharks on Saturday, plated a run in the top of the seventh on a
Yunior Sanchez sacrifice fly, added another in the eighth on a
Josue Sanchez RBI single, and
Gabriel Marinez crossed home plate on a
Jouseph Renovales groundout in the ninth. Unfortunately, the Lions could only get one runner – Marinez – on base and in scoring position before
Yunior Sanchez flied out to left to end the game at 10-8.
Renovales and
Yunior Sanchez led Florida Memorial with identical stat lines, 2-for-4, with two RBI, and a run scored. Sanchez also added a stolen base. Marinez and
Rohandry Javier each had two runs scored while
Jacquel Perry went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Edgard Aparico was credited with the loss.
