Florida International's pitching staff threw a lot of fast balls to UL hitters Saturday, and that's what Kolin Hatfield was hoping for.

"They were throwing fast balls early in the count," Hatfield said, "and our hitters were jumping on them early."

Hatfield did much of that jumping on a record-setting day at FIU's University Park in Miami, and his teammates followed his lead on the way to a 19-5 thumping of the Golden Panthers in the middle game of their Sun Belt Conference series.

Hatfield, a junior from Cypress, Texas, and a transfer from Sam Houston State, laced three home runs after entering the game with only one homer all season. He also had five hits and nine runs batted in, tying school records in all three categories as part of a 22-hit Cajun attack.

Hatfield also took over one record category by himself with 15 total bases, adding a double and a single to his three homers.

"It was just a matter of seeing it, getting a good pitch to hit and hitting it," Hatfield said.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com