Box Score MIAMI (April 19, 2014) – A nine-run eighth inning for Florida Atlantic (20-18, 8-12 Conference USA) resulted in a 13-5 victory for the Owls on Saturday evening over FIU (27-11, 11-9 C-USA). The Panthers led 3-0 early but surrendered 12 unanswered runs to FAU.
Junior catcher
Aramis Garcia led the way for FIU, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI. Senior
Chris May, sophomore
Edwin Rios and junior
Julius Gaines also each recorded an RBI in the loss.
With the game knotted up at three in the eighth inning, the Owls managed to score nine runs, all with two outs. The inning was highlighted by a three-run home run for Brendon Sanger. Of the nine runs the Owls plated in the eighth, just five were earned. The inning consisted of four hits, three walks, a hit by pitch and an error, resulting in a 12-3 lead for FAU.
The Panthers struck with two runs in the first inning as Garcia doubled down the left field line to score senior
Tyler Hibbert. Rios hit a ball to deep right to score Garcia on a sacrifice fly, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Garcia's seventh home run of the season came in the third inning, a solo shot, to up FIU's lead to 3-0.
FAU cut into the Panther lead in the fourth with a two-spot, followed by a Tyler Rocklein home run to tie it up in the sixth. That would lead to the nine-run inning for FAU in the eighth.
The Panthers would add on one run in the bottom of the eighth. Junior
Brian Portelli roped a triple to the opposite field and scored on a sac-fly by Gaines.
Junior
Alec Beyersdorf led off with a double in the ninth and scored on
Chris May's RBI double to cut the Owl lead to 13-5.
FIU is back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the Owls. You can catch the action with
Pete Pelegrin on PantherVision on FIUSports.com beginning at 12:55 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@o) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUBaseball) for all the latest FIU Baseball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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Fans can purchase tickets online, over the phone by calling 305-FIU-GAME, or in person at the R. Kirk Landon Fieldhouse Box Office. Tickets cost just $5 and group pricing is available for groups of 20 or more. Student admission is free to all FIU baseball home games.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU 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 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
