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Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU player
J.T. Wilcox
3
Ave Maria University AVE 2-8
11
Winner Florida Memorial FMU21 4-3
Ave Maria University AVE
2-8
3
Final
11
Florida Memorial FMU21
4-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ave Maria University AVE 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 3
Florida Memorial FMU21 1 3 1 2 3 0 1 0 X 11 14 0

W: Acosta, Jonaikel (2-0) L: Carn (0-1) S: Ruiz, Dawrin (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Young & Harris Homer, Lions Rout Ave Maria Friday

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Sophomores Jalen Young and Nathan Harris Jr. each crushed home runs over the right field fence and Florida Memorial University racked up a season-high 14 hits as it cruised to an 11-3 victory over visiting Ave Maria University Friday in the opening game of a three-game weekend series at Harry T. Moore Field.
 
The Lions, who scored runs in each of the first five innings Friday, will host the Gyrenes for a doubleheader Saturday – with the first game set to begin at 12 noon and the second game 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first.
 
FMU (4-3, 2-2 The Sun Conference) made sure to take advantage of what has been a struggling Ave Maria pitching staff. Entering Friday's game, Gyrenes pitchers had allowed nine or more runs in six of their total games, had a collective ERA of 10.7, threw 27 wild pitches, and surrendered 12 home runs.
 
Ave Maria's hurlers struggled again, throwing 8 wild pitches Friday, which directly led to three runs for the Lions, including FMU's first run of the day – an easy trot to home plate for Yunior Sanchez after he hit a standup triple during his at bat.
 
Sanchez had a productive day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a triple, 2 runs scored, an RBI, and 3 walks drawn. Luis Rivera finished with a team high 3 hits, going 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and a walk.
 
Harris' pinch-hit, 2-run homer in the fifth gave Florida Memorial a 10-2 lead; Ave Maria plated a run in the top of the sixth to cut the FMU's lead to 10-3; and the Lions put the punctuation run on in in the bottom of the seventh – scoring on a Gyrenes error to take the final 11-3 lead.
 
Friday's game did have one flaw, an unexpected squall of torrential rain passed through during the top of the third inning – drenching the field and halting the game for over 30 minutes.
 
Once play resumed, the Lions turned its 4-1 lead into a 5-1 lead when inning-leadoff man Young got ahold of a hanging off-speed pitch and sent the ball sailing over the right field fence for a solo home run.
 
The Gyrenes (2-8, 1-3) did score again in the top of the fourth but Florida Memorial tacked on a couple more runs in the bottom of the inning after Manny Mollinedo got a rally going with a leadoff double, followed by a Sanchez double, a Young single, and a wild pitch that brought Sanchez home.
 
Young finished 2-for-5 while Harris was 1-for-1.
 
Lions ace pitcher Johnaikel Acosta earned the win Friday but threw just 3 and two-thirds innings before leaving the game with tightness in an upper extremity. Freshman righthanded pitcher Dawrin Ruiz made his season debut in relief and threw 5 and-a-third innings, allowing four hits and striking out nine.
 
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