Daytona Beach, Fla. – For the second time in as many weeks, the Wildcats will take the drive down I95 to Miami, this time to take on the Panthers of FIU, Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
 
Game Information

Tuesday, April 26
Opponent: FIU (11-26, 4-14 C-USA)
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Miami, Fla. | FIU Baseball Stadium
Live Stats: https://fiusports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Watch ($): https://conferenceusa.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=13398&path=fiu
 
Last Time Out
 
The Wildcats salvaged an ugly start to a weekend series with Mississippi Valley State with wins in the latter two games of the series. After being run-ruled in game one, 12-2, the Wildcats rebounded, outscoring the Delta Devils 22-4 the rest of the way.
 
Starting pitching starred again as Nolan Santos and Hector Vazquez each went seven strong innings, allowing only a single earned run between them and striking out 19.
 
Christopher Patterson caught fire over the weekend, collecting hits in eight of ten at-bats with three RBI, four runs scored, and a stolen base.
 
Scouting the Panthers
 
FIU is 11-26 this season, including 4-14 in conference play. The Panthers took down the Wildcats, 9-4 in the second week of the season as part of a six-game win streak, but FIU has struggled since. They are losers of their last six games and 14 of their last 16.
 
FIU is batting .239 as a team with 26 homers and 151 RBI.  Outfielder Alec Sanchez leads his squad in RBI at 32 on nine homers and a .970 OPS. Infielder Robert Sotolongo is batting .295 with 22 RBI. The Panthers have stolen 48 bags as a team on 67 attempts
 
The Panthers pitching staff has struggled to the tune of a 7.45 ERA and 1.83 WHIP. They have struck out 377 in in 328 innings while walking 225. FIU has 44 errors as a team.
 
The Starters
 
Joán Gonzalez will take the ball for the second straight Tuesday. He showed no fear at No. 5 Miami last week. He threw 5.1 innings, allowing only a single earned run on five hits with four walks and five punchouts. In his last two outings, Gonzalez has allowed only the one earned run over 9.2 innings with seven walks, seven hits, and nine strikeouts.
 
Christian Santana will start for FIU. In six appearances this season, mostly in relief, Santana has a 35.31 ERA with 4.15 WHIP. In 4.1 total innings pitched, he has allowed 17 runs, walked 11, and given up seven hits.
 
Notes
 

• Irvin Escobar continues to be impossible to strike out this season. In 31 games played and 98 at-bats, he has struck out only 12 times.
• Colton Olasin has also shown serious plate vision. In 38 games and 122 plate appearances, he has struck out only 16 times.
• Nolan Santos has moved up to second in the SWAC in strikeouts with 71. His 12 Ks on Saturday led the Wildcats to the highest strikeout game in the SWAC of the season at 17 total.
• The Wildcats have the second-best fielding percentage in the SWAC at .962.
• Franki Febles has been hit by the pitch 13 times this season – the second-highest mark in the conference.

 
All-Time Series
 
Tuesday marks the 27^th meeting all-time between FIU and B-CU. The Panthers own a 17-9 advantage in the series and have won the last seven.
 

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