FMU Faces Tough Weekend Series At No. 15 Keiser, Beginning Friday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (6-4, 3-3) at No. 15 Keiser University Seahawks (13-4, 2-4)
When: Friday-Saturday, February 26-27, 2021
Where: Keiser University, West Palm Beach, Fla. | KU Alumni Field
First Pitch: Friday, 2 p.m. | Saturday, 11 a.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 29, 2020, Loss 2-7
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's baseball team will be out to make a statement to the rest of the Sun Conference this weekend as it will be looking to upend No. 15 Keiser University when the two face off in a three-game weekend beginning Friday at KU's Alumni Field.

This weekend's games will be the Lions' first road conference matchup of the season. Per Keiser University health and safety guidelines, the games will be closed to the general public and to visiting fans. However, all three games will be streamed live by the Seahawks and can be viewed free of charge.

Florida Memorial enters the series with a bit of positive momentum following its single-game non-conference win over Florida National University this past Tuesday. The Lions (6-4, 3-3 The Sun Conference) used some timely hitting and aggressive and opportunistic base running to rally back from a 3-run deficit and come away with a 9-6 win.

FMU's bats have had a good amount of juice through the early part of the season. The Lions have had at least eight hits in seven of their 11 games, with two of those being 14-hit outings and a 13-hit day.

Luis Rivera is among the team's leaders in batting average at .667; Jalen Young and Axel Gomez have proven to be potent hitters at the plate as well as dangerous base runners; Yunior Sanchez leads the team in walks drawn; and Jacquel Perry and Nathan Harris Jr. both have the power to send any given pitch over an outfield fence – evident by the 3 home runs between them so far this season.

FMU head coach Florentino Burgos, who said more power will be added to the Lions' batting order once senior slugger Joe Lucas makes a healthy return, still wants to see if his pitching staff can continue to round into shape – especially as it will be tested by a tough opponent like Keiser.

The Seahawks enter the weekend series still sore about its overall weekend series loss to Webber International University this past weekend. Keiser dropped the first two games against the Warriors by identical 4-3 scores and only mustered a 5-3 victory in the third game.

Keiser has shown itself to be hot and cold at the plate recently. It scored 11 runs in three games against Webber but scored 19 runs in a single game at No. 4 St. Thomas University two weeks ago.

Florida Memorial's success this weekend will largely hinge on its pitching staff's ability to keep opposing batters in check and the defense behind the mound to make sound decisions when runners are on the base paths – two things that waned in spots for FMU this past Tuesday.

Burgos will likely have ace pitcher Johnaikel Acosta toeing the slab for one of the three games this weekend. Acosta has been solid in his outings – earning two wins in two appearances with a 2.13 ERA.

Freshman right-hander Dawrin Ruiz has shown overwhelming power with his fast ball and has given the team good innings as a reliever while Krystian Negron looked good in his return to the Lions' bullpen and threw an inning against Florida National – adding to the depth of the pitching staff.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Johnaikel Acosta: RHP; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#7 Axel Gomez: INF; 6' 2"; Junior

#25 Nathan Harris: UTL; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#34 Joe Lucas: INF; 6' 0"; Senior

#21 Krystian Negron: RHP; 6' 3"; Senior

#40 Jacquel Perry: 1B; 5' 11"; Junior

#6 Luis Rivera: INF; 5' 11"; Senior

#22 Yunior Sanchez: UTL; 5' 10"; Junior

#27 Jalen Young: OF/LHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#43 Dawrin Ruiz: RHP; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#14 Johnaikel Acosta
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: RHP

#7 Axel Gomez
: 6' 2"; Junior
: INF

#25 Nathan Harris
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: UTL

#34 Joe Lucas
: 6' 0"; Senior
: INF

#21 Krystian Negron
: 6' 3"; Senior
: RHP

#40 Jacquel Perry
: 5' 11"; Junior
: 1B

#6 Luis Rivera
: 5' 11"; Senior
: INF

#22 Yunior Sanchez
: 5' 10"; Junior
: UTL

#27 Jalen Young
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: OF/LHP

#43 Dawrin Ruiz
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: RHP

Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned