MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | Florida Memorial took care of business on day one of the 2023 Spring Break HBCU Baseball Classic, picking up wins over Paine and Voorhees.
Gm. 1
FMU 3 - Paine 2
Florida Memorial scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning off an RBI from Elijah Jordan that scored Luis Ruiz. Paine College responded with a run scored in the third inning to tie the game up 1-1. Paine scored their second run in the top of the fifth, but the Lions responded with their own run scored from an error from Paine to tie the game at 2-2.
The game went into extra innings, but in the bottom of the ninth, the Lions sealed the win with an RBI from Ulises Rodriguez that scored Nathan Harris.
FMU pitcher William Hiciano started six innings on the mound and allowed six hits, two runs, and struck out seven Paine batters. Kyle Morrison came in relief in the seventh inning and allowed two hits, zero runs and struck out five Paine batters.
Gm. 2
FMU 8 - Voorhees 3
The Lions got behind in the top of the first inning before responding with two runs in the bottom stanza when
Jalen Young produced an RBI-single that allowed
Ulises Rodriguez to score. Moments later, Young brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Lions when he scored on a passed ball.
Voorhees tied the game in the second inning, then both teams went scoreless in the third. That's when the Lions' bats came alive, scoring two runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to close the door on any comeback attempt.
In the fourth,
Ivan Zambrano earned an RBI-double that brought home pinch runner and speedster
Pheron Charlton. Shortly after, Rodriguez touched home plate as a result of a wild pitch.
In the fifth inning,
Luis Velandia generated an RBI-single that scored
Elijah Jordan. Later in the inning,
Te'Jai Jackson scored on a balk with the bases loaded, bringing the score to 6-2.
In the sixth,
Levis Aguila produced a sacrifice-RBI that brought home Young.
Luis Ruiz scored FMU's final run of the contest on a sacrifice-RBI from
Alberto Mireles.
On the mound,
Aubrey Yarbrough got the nod and pitched a portion of the first inning before getting replaced by
Jamal Johnson (1-1) who was credited with the victory. Johnson pitched just over six innings and struck out six Voorhees batters while allowing just two earned runs against the Tigers.
The Lions return to action on Saturday, March 11 as they host Voorhees and Paine in a doubleheader on day two of the 2023 Spring Break HBCU Baseball Classic. First pitch is set for 9:30 a.m. at the Harry T. Moore Baseball Field.
