HATTIESBURG, Miss. (May 23, 2015) – For the first time since the 2011 season, the FIU baseball team (28-29) will be playing for a conference championship following a 15-3 (7 innings) trashing of Middle Tennessee (32-27) in the Conference USA Baseball Championship semifinals Saturday morning.
Highlighted by a pair of grand slams, the Panthers recorded 15 runs on 16 hits versus the Blue Raiders. It marked FIU's second-straight run-ruled shortened game of the tournament as the Panthers became the first team to score 15 runs in back-to-back C-USA Championship games since 2010 (Rice). Led by senior
Josh Anderson and junior
Austin Rodriguez, who each notched grand slams in the game, FIU plated one run in the second, seven in the third, three in the sixth and four in the seventh to pick up the team's third-straight win.
Anderson finished the day going 2-for-4 with six RBI and three runs scored. The FIU third baseman had a pair of homers in the game as he hit a solo shot in the top of the second and a grand slam in the seventh. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with five RBI and a run scored. His grand slam in the third was part of the team's seven-run inning, which put the game out of reach.
Eight Panthers had at least one hit in the contest, including senior
Julius Gaines who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior
Brian Portelli drove in two and scored three with a 3-for-5 performance, including his 20
th double of the season. Sophomore
JC Escarra went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while junior
Edwin Rios scored three runs going 1-for-3 on the day.
Right-hander
Cody Crouse (5-5) earned the victory, lasting six innings while allowing just two runs on five hits. The Valrico, Fla., native tied a career high in strikeouts with seven.
Coming out of the winner's bracket, FIU enters the championship contest having scored 36 runs on 43 hits in three games during the tournament.
The championship game will take place on Sunday, May 24. The Panthers will face the winner of the UAB-Florida Atlantic semifinal contest. The game will air on the CBS Sports Network with first pitch set for 1 p.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. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
