Box Score GREENVILLE, N.C. (May 3, 2014) – In an entertaining game, FIU closer
Mike Gomez broke the school's all-time saves record in the Panthers' (33-12, 13-10) 6-4 victory over East Carolina (28-20, 13-10) on Saturday night to clinch the series.
Gomez passes Ozzie Lugo (2000-01) with 24 career saves. The save for Gomez was his seventh of the season. Freshman J.C. Escarra had a three-hit game and recorded an RBI for the Panthers in the win, while junior
Josh Anderson tallied two hits and drove in a run.
After ECU plated one in the bottom of the second, FIU would answer in the top of the third. Junior
Roche Woodard led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. The first of Escarra's three hits was a single to right. Woodard moved to third and Escarra reached second on the attempted throw to third. Then with senior
Tyler Hibbert up, Woodard scored on a passed ball to knot the contest up at one.
Freshman
Cody Crouse surrendered a home run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Panthers would answer with a three-spot in the top of the fifth. FIU had a second and third situation, as Woodard and Escarra reached on singles before Hibbert bunted them over. Junior
Julius Gaines tallied the first RBI on a sacrifice fly. Following an infield hit for junior
Josh Anderson, sophomore
Edwin Rios provided an RBI single to up FIU's lead to 3-2. Senior
Zach Sweety drove in a run on a bunt hit to make it 4-2.
The Pirates came back with another home run, this time off freshman
Gunnar McNeill, who earned his first career victory. The Panthers came back with two in the top of the sixth. Junior
Alec Beyersdorf singled, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on Woodard's ground out. Escarra then drove him in with a base-hit to make the score 5-3. Anderson grounded out to second later in the inning, but drove in a run to up FIU's lead to 6-3. East Carolina would come back in the bottom half and add one.
With FIU leading 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and runners on first and second, Gomez forced a ground ball to Beyersdorf at first. After a slight bobble by Beyersdorf, he tossed it to Gomez, who was covering first, getting the runner and giving the Miami native his 24th career save.
FIU closes out the series with ECU on Sunday at 1 p.m. Freshman
Chris Mourelle will start for the Panthers.
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.
##### 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.
