Box Score NEW ORLEANS, La. (May 15, 2014) – FIU Baseball (36-16, 16-12) knocked off Tulane (21-29, 8-18) on Friday night, 9-1. With the victory, the Panthers have clinched a spot in the Conference USA Tournament next week in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Junior
Mike Franco improved to 9-3 on the year, going seven innings, giving up five hits, one earned run, while strking out seven. Juniors
Julius Gaines,
Josh Anderson and
Brian Portelli each had two hits in the victory. Junior
L.K. Thompson also drove in three runs.
Senior
Tyler Hibbert led off the top of the third with a triple. The Panthers appeared to have been in trouble though, as the next two batters got out, failing to advance Hibbert. Sophomore
Edwin Rios walked with two outs to give FIU a first and third situation, where senior
Zach Sweety then laid down a bunt. Tulane pitcher Coreey Merill flipped it home, but the throw was not in time as Hibbert reached. Then with the bases loaded, Thompson cleared them with a double ripped down the right field line, giving the Panthers a 4-0 lead.
With two outs in the fourth, Gaines reached on an infield hit and then advanced to second on an error, followed by a wild pitch to move him to third. Anderson came up big with two outs, scorching a double down the left field line to score Gaines, giving FIU a 5-0 lead.
After Tulane tallied one in the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers came back and scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth. In the seventh, Gaines and Anderson had back-to-back singles. Rios grounded into a double play later in the inning, but Gaines scored on the play to up FIU's lead to 6-1. FIU plated the other two runs in the eighth on a fielder's choice and an error.
Sweety tripled with one out in the ninth and then scored on an RBI single by junior
Alec Beyersdorf.
FIU is back in action tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET. Junior
Robby Kalaf will start on the mound.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUBaseball) 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 at the FIU Football 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/.
