The Florida Memorial Lions came into Thursday’s game against Keiser University, the No. 12 ranked baseball team in the country in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll. That may not be the case after an unreal upset absolutely shocked the Seahawks.
Florida Memorial had to overcome some early adversity in this game that truly showed that they were here to compete.
Keiser would strike first on two runs in the top of the third inning on three singles and a fielding error to take an early lead in the game.
It didn’t take long for the Lions to answer with its own impressive offensive output. They would knot the game in the bottom of the third inning.
Florida Memorial got on the board beginning with a Marco Medina single through the left side. He moved to second on a stolen base. Pheron Charlton tripled to right field to score Medina. Then, Alejandro Fernandez singled through the left side to tie the game at 2-2.
From that point on, the game was a pitching duel between Keiser’s starter Danny Galvan and Florida Memorial’s Max Charnin.
Florida Memorial would take its first lead in the game in the bottom of the six inning. Both Raymond Rivera and Ulises Rodriguez singled. After a fielder’s choice groundout advanced both runners to second and third, Ivan Zambrano singled through the right-side with Rivera scoring, putting the Lions up 3-2 which then sent Galvin to the showers.
This would be a lead that they would not relinquish. The Lions went on to add two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and ultimately came away with a 5-2 victory, in large part thanks to timely hitting.
The Lions bullpen stymied any Keiser comeback by shutting out the Seahawks in the final four innings as they loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning threatening to plate runs. Instead, the Lions retired the next batter to secure the win.
Florida Memorial is the No. 2 ranked team in HBCU Baseball Top 10 Poll. Beating the No. 12th ranked NAIA team is obviously an impressive feat. To do so against an in-state conference rival like the Seahawks makes it even sweeter.
This was the SUN Conference opener for both teams.
Florida Memorial,12-5 overall and now 1-0 in conference play, received good pitching from its ace, Max Charnin (W, 3-0). For the game, Charnin threw 6.0 innings, allowed 2 runs and 1 earned for the win. He received strong relief from Kelvin Feliciano, Jamal Johnson, and Stephen West, who combined to allow 3 hits in relief out of the bullpen. Keiser University is now18-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Both Charlton and Fernandez were 3-for-5 at the plate with 2 runs batted in. Raymond Rivera, who leads the nation with a .549 batting average was 2-for-3. Ernie Farrell and Zambrano each went 2-for-4 for the game.