CHARLESTON, W.Va. (March 27, 2015) –
Brian Portelli's bases-clearing double broke open FIU's series opener against Marshall Friday night, sparking the Panthers to a 7-4 win over the Thundering Herd at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. With the win FIU moved to 12-14 overall and 4-3 in Conference USA play. Marshall dropped to 7-17 and 1-6 in the conference.
The Panthers led 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning before Portelli laced a three-run double into the left-center field gap to extend FIU's lead to 6-1. Marshall starter Matt Margaritonda (0-4) walked the bases loaded in the sixth before Portelli's 12th double of the season
.
Spencer Levine got the Panthers on the scoreboard in the second inning with a run-scoring single. Portelli drove in the second FIU run on a ground out in the fifth. Two batters later,
Zach Soria's RBI-single made it 3-1. Portelli was 2-for-5 with 4 RBI. His 22 RBI on the season are second on the team to
Edwin Rios, who has 23 RBI.
FIU right-hander
Cody Crouse (3-2) allowed just two hits and one run over five innings of work to record the win. Freshman right-hander
Garrett Cave provided three solid innings of relief and
Williams Durruthy shut the door in the ninth for his second save of the season.
FIU and Marshall resume the series Saturday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park with the first pitch at 4 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.
