FIU coach Melendez and his squad open the baseball season Friday against Stony Brook
.JPG "FIU baseball coach Mervyl Melendez and his squad open the 2019 season Friday. The Panthers host Stony Brook at 7 p.m.")
The FIU Panthers open their 2019 schedule with a weekend home series against Stony Brook starting Friday at 7 p.m.
The Panthers, who were 26-28 and 15-13 in Conference USA last season, are hopeful that this year will mark their first trip back to an NCAA regional since 2015.
They are led by third-year coach Mervyl Melendez, third baseman Austin Shenton (9 HRs, 29 RBI and .344 last season) and pitchers Nick MacDonald (3-4, 4.26 ERA last season) and Christian Santana (2-4, 5.79 ERA last season).
Stony Brook is led by junior shortstop Nick Grande, who batted .377 with six home runs and 32 stolen bases for the Seawolves last season.
Lefty Logan Allen (5-5, 3.89 ERA last season) will start for FIU on Friday, and he will face righty Greg Marino (7-2, 4.53 ERA last season).
The series continues Saturday at 6 p.m. and concludes with a 1 p.m. game Sunday.
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 12:20 PM.