By Jonathan Ramos/ Sports Director

On one morning during the Golden Panthers improbable run in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last week, FIU pitcher Daniel Desimone told a waitress at a Cracker Barrel restaurant the team visited in Murfreesboro that he would have “the usual” for breakfast.

Although the waitress could not remember exactly what DeSimone wanted, there had to have been a familiarity with the FIU team. That’s because the team ate at the restaurant every morning before their first five games at the tournament.

And that is also why the Golden Panthers (36-23) will have no problems getting up to play at noon against Texas A&M (40-19-1) in the first game of the Coral Gables Regional of the NCAA tournament on June 4 at Alex Rodriguez Park.

FIU will send sophomore R.J Fondon to the mound to face Aggies ace Barret Loux, who is, at least statistically, the best pitcher the Golden Panthers have faced all season. Loux, who is 10-2 on the season and is a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, is an intimidating presence on the mound at 6-foot-5.

But the Golden Panther offense should also carry around an intimidating vibe, coming off a conference tournament in which they broke offensive records en route to a championship.

“For Florida International, all anybody talks about is Wittels,” said Aggie coach Rob Childress about FIU infielder Garrett Wittels. “They’re hitting .339 as a team. They can hit one through nine. Against them, you have to avoid the big inning, where they string five or six hits together, and that fifth or sixth hit is a home run. Turtle does a great job coaching hitters and there’s nine guys in that lineup is a home run.”

Wittels, who holds a 54-game hitting streak, will need his teammates to help him touch  Loux and open the regional round with a victory.  

“We’ve prepared for him,” Wittels said. “I’ll take our lineup against anyone, really. We’re just trying to go out there and swing the bats like we’ve been swinging it, and just go out there and play the game hard, have fun. Hopefully we can score some runs and our pitching can hold them down and we can hold a game. I know they’re a great team. I know they come from Texas, which is great baseball.”

DISTRACTIONS ASIDE

While Wittels was showered with questions about his hitting streak at a press conference following the team’s last practice before their first game, the sophomore detailed the conversation he had with former Oklahoma State star Robin Ventura, who holds the NCAA record of 58 straight games with a hit and went on to play in the major leagues.  

“The biggest thing me and Mr. Ventura were talking about was kind of how at the this time of the year, you don’t try to go out there and just get hits, because you’re just out there trying to win,” he said. “So a lot of the pressure is really off with the hitting streak. The main focus is winning.”

FIU head coach Turtle Thomas is more concerned with eliminating the team pressure his team may feel in their first NCAA tournament. FIU broke though in the conference playoffs this season, but it was just last year when the team fell in its first two contests of the SBC tournament and went home early. They were in their first conference tournament together in 2009. Thomas feels it will be up to each player, from an individual standpoint, to avoid any pressure in their first NCAA tournament in 2010.

“What happens is when you get into postseason play for the first time in awhile, you got to be able to break through that invisible pressure barrier,” Thomas said. “It’s real. It’s there. We’ve talked about that but we feel that because we have won five postseason games already this year, we don’t feel it’s going to be a problem.”

INJURY UPDATE

Thomas said that left fielder Jabari Henry and first baseman Tim Jobe are healthy and available for the upcoming games. Both players, who are regular starters, missed most of the conference tournament.

If FIU defeats Texas A&M, it will match up against the winner of the Dartmouth vs. Miami game.