FIU’s baseball team defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls 9-1 on March 31 at FIU Baseball Stadium.
The win marks a strong showing for FIU, which limited Florida Atlantic to three hits and one run while using seven pitchers throughout the game. The result improves FIU’s record to 9-20 for the season.
The Panthers took an early lead in the fourth inning with a two-run double from Aidan Cohall, his team-leading fourteenth of the season. Tracen Cameron and Andrew Ildefonso scored on the play. Although Florida Atlantic narrowed the gap to 2-1 in the fifth inning on a passed ball, FIU quickly responded as Cole Cleveland drove in two runs with a hit into left-center field.
A five-run seventh inning put the game out of reach for Florida Atlantic. Cooper Rasmussen drew a bases-loaded walk, Cleveland added a sacrifice fly, Hector Candelas hit a two-run single, and Mario Trivella capped off the scoring with an RBI single.
On pitching duty, Matthew DelVecchio made his debut for FIU by throwing two scoreless innings and recording one strikeout. Mason Koczwara earned his first win of the season after pitching two no-hit innings. Other contributors included Cooper Foster, Jarek Woodward, Quin McManmon, Jordan Vargas—who pitched 1.2 innings—and Bryce Turner who closed out with a scoreless ninth inning.
Offensively, Fischer and Trivella both had multi-hit games while Fischer reached base three times overall. Ildefonso got on base twice through a single and being hit by pitch; Rasmussen extended his on-base streak to fourteen games; Cleveland led with three runs batted in; Enrique Alvarez Jr. and Candelas also contributed hits.
Looking ahead, FIU will host Louisiana Tech Bulldogs from April 2 through April 4 at FIU Baseball Stadium with live streaming available on ESPN+.
