CONWAY, S.C. (Feb. 21, 2015) – The FIU baseball team (2-4) dropped a pair of contests during the first day of the 16
th Annual Caravell Resort's Baseball at the Beach Tournament. The Panthers opened the day with a 16-9 loss to No. 28 Georgia Tech and then fell to N.C. State, 3-1.
Georgia Tech 16, FIU 9Georgia Tech scored eight runs in the top of the ninth inning to rally past FIU 16-9 in the first game of a split-opponent doubleheader for FIU on Saturday in the Baseball at the Beach Tournament.
The Panthers fell behind early to the Yellow Jackets, 6-0, before rallying to take a 9-8 lead into the ninth inning. FIU cut the Georgia Tech (4-1) lead in half in the second inning highlighted by a bases loaded walk drawn by
J.C. Escarra and
Brandon Cody getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
FIU scored single runs in the fourth through sixth innings before taking the lead in the seventh. RBI doubles by Cody and
Eddie Silva helped the Panthers tie the score at 8-all before
Jack Schaaf's RBI bloop single to left made it 9-8 FIU. Silva went 4-for-5 in the first game. Schaaf had two hits and three RBI.
But the Panthers couldn't hold the lead in the ninth. The big blow for Georgia Tech coming on A.J. Murray's grand slam to salt the game away at 14-9.
N.C. State 3, FIU 1In the nightcap of the doubleheader the Panthers couldn't muster much offense in a 3-1 loss to North Carolina State. Silva provided the lone run for FIU with his first college home run in the third inning. The solo shot tied the score at 1-1 before the Wolfpack (3-1) scratched out a run against starter
Chris Mourelle in the bottom of the third inning. Mourelle had a solid outing pitching five and two-thirds innings and allowing just two earned runs.
Edwin Rios had two of the three FIU hits against N.C. State as the Panthers fell to 2-4.
FIU closes the Baseball at the Beach Tournament Sunday with a doubleheader against North Carolina-Central beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
##### 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). #####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 Ocean Bank 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 54,000 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.
