TAMPA, Fla. (March 18, 2015) – FIU rallied from a late-inning deficit against South Florida Wednesday night but the Bulls pushed a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Panthers 4-3 in Tampa.
Down 3-0 in the top of the eighth the Panthers (9-12) scored three runs against USF set-up man Jordan Strittmatter and closer Tommy Peterson (1-0) to tie the score.
J.C. Escarra led off the eighth with his first home run of the season -- a drive over the right field wall against Strittmatter. The Panthers proceeded to load the bases and added their second run on a Bulls error.
Jack Schaaf tied the score with a sacrifice fly off Peterson scoring
Eddie Silva, who walked.
In the bottom of the eighth Zac Gilcrease drew a walk off FIU closer
Danny Dopico (1-2) and moved to third base on a throwing error. Kyle Teaf brought home Gilcrease, with the eventual winning run for the Bulls (15-6-1), on a sacrifice fly that Schaaf made a nifty diving grab on deep in the left field corner.
Escarra was 2-for-5 with the home run and
Zach Soria was 2-for-3 to increase his team-leading batting average to .370.
FIU returns home to open a three-game series with Charlotte Friday at the FIU ballpark. First pitch for the series opener is at 7 p.m.?
##### 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.
