MIAMI (March 20, 2015) – A bottom of the ninth rally came up short as the FIU baseball team (9-13, 1-3 C-USA) dropped a 5-4 decision to the Charlotte 49ers (7-9, 1-6 C-USA) on Friday evening from the FIU Baseball Stadium.
Trailing 5-2, heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs and proceeded to chip away at the 49er lead. An RBI single by sophomore
J.C. Escarra cut the deficit to two. Relief pitcher Micah Wells struck out freshman
Jack Schaaf for the first out of the inning; however
Mitchell Robinson registered a pinch-hit, RBI single to pull FIU within one. Wells shut the door, striking out junior Ray Perez and getting senior
Julius Gaines to pop out to hand FIU its third-straight conference loss.
FIU jumped out to a 2-0 lead, scoring runs in the second and third innings, but a five-run fourth inning by Charlotte put the Panthers in a hole they would not get out of.
Senior
Brian Portelli scored two of FIU's four runs, going 0-for-2 with two walks. Gaines (1-for-5) drove in a run as did Escarra (1-for-3), freshman
Brandon Cody (0-for-3) and Robinson (1-for-1).
Starter
Cody Crouse (2-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking out three in five innings of work.
The Panthers finished the night scoring four runs on seven hits and committing one error. Four of FIU's seven hits came in the bottom half of the ninth.
Both teams will be back at it tomorrow for game two of the weekend series as freshman
Andres Nunez (RHP) will face J.D. Prochaska (LHP). First pitch from the FIU Baseball Stadium is set for 6 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.
