MIAMI (April 19, 2015) – The FIU baseball team (17-22, 8-10 C-USA) dropped a tough 17-2 decision to the WKU Hilltoppers on Sunday afternoon. The Hilltoppers leave FIU winning the series this weekend taking two of the three games.
The Panthers surrendered 17 hits to WKU on Sunday, which included a 6-for-6 effort from Ryan Church, who also drove in five runs. In addition, five players for the Hilltoppers recorded multiple hits. For FIU, junior
Julius Gaines led the way with three hits, while sophomore J.C. Escarra and junior
Rey Perez drove in the two Panther runs. Sophomore
Chris Mourelle dropped to 5-4 on the year. He was charged with the loss on the mound.
The Hilltoppers put up a crooked number in each of the first five innings which included a nine-spot in the fifth inning. Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the second, FIU got on the board when Perez doubled down the left field line, scoring junior
Edwin Rios to make it 3-1. With the nine-run fifth for WKU, the Hilltoppers increased their lead to 17-1. In the bottom of the fifth, Gaines scored on an RBI single by Escarra to make it 17-2.
Freshman Ian Expositio tossed the final two innings for FIU, allowing no runs and just one hit.
The Panthers will host Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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