Box Score LAFAYETTE, La. (May 24, 2013) – The 2013 FIU Baseball season came to an end early Saturday morning as the Panthers dropped a heartbreaker to South Alabama (USA) in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, 7-6. With the game knotted up at six in the eighth inning, the Jaguars chipped away and got the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
The Panthers walked 12 times but left 13 runners on base in the loss. Freshman
Edwin Rios collected two hits, two RBI and two runs to cap off a successful weekend. Junior
Josh Anderson also added three hits in the loss.
FIU got on the board in the top of the second. Rios led off with a single and Anderson walked to give the Panthers runners on first and second with nobody out. Senior T.J. Shantz laid down a bunt, where Jaguar pitcher James Traylor launched an errant throw over the first baseman's head. Rios scored on the play to give FIU a 1-0 edge. The
Panthers went on to load the bases with no outs, but failed to build on the lead.
USA put up two runs in the third inning. Graham Odom singled, Jeff DeBlieux walked and Bud Collura singled to load the bases for the Jaguars. A bases-loaded walk and sac fly would score two runs as USA took a 2-1 lead. Then in the fourth, the Jaguars tacked on another on a sac fly to make it 3-1.
USA was not done though. In the fifth, Jordan Patterson led off with a double and Nick Zaharion followed with a two-run homer to left, giving the Jaguars a 5-1 lead.
FIU battled and came back in the sixth inning with a five-run output. Senior
Nathan Burns, sophomore
Julius Gaines and sophomore
Roche Woodard all walked to load the bases with nobody out. Sophomore
Aramis Garcia drove in the first run on a base-hit. Then, a balk resulted in another Panther run to make it 5-3. Rios tied the game up on a two-run single and Aguirre put FIU back on top with a sacrifice fly to score Rios.
The crazy contest continued when USA squeezed out a run on an RBI groundout in the sixth to tie it back up.
FIU stranded two runners in the top of the eighth. Then in the bottom half, the Jaguars had runners on second and third with no outs. A sacrifice fly for Collura gave the Jaguars a 7-6 lead.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
