FIU jumped on Marshall starter JD Hammer in the first inning Saturday afternoon at the FIU ballpark. The Panthers struck for three early runs and appeared poised to take the series from the Thundering Herd.

But the persistent Marshall lineup had other plans, pecking away at the FIU advantage until taking a late lead and leaving town with a 6-5 win. The Herd (13-9, 3-3 Conference USA) won the series from the Panthers (12-15, 2-4 C-USA) by taking two of three games.

DJ Gee's RBI single off Williams Durruthy (0-3) in the top of the eighth inning was the difference. Andrew Zban reached base after an errant throw by Durruthy to lead off the eighth. Zban moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt before scoring. Gee was a thorn to FIU pitching going 9 for 14 in the series.

FIU got three runs in the first inning off Hammer. Eddie Silva led off with a single and scored on a double by Zach Files to left center. Zack Soria hit a two-run home run, scoring Files to make it 3-0.

The Panthers had a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning before Marshall catcher Sam Finfer tied the score with a two-run home run off FIU starter Garrett Cave, who allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Patrick Murphy (3-1), who was the losing pitcher Thursday in the series opener, allowed no earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief to pick up the win. Burris Warner recorded his sixth save tossing the final 1 1/3 innings. It was Warner's second save of the series.

Silva and Files each had two hits for FIU. Silva, who was 2 for 5, increased his team-leading batting average to .372. Files is second with a .337 average.

On deck for FIU is a single mid-week game at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The game can be heard on the FIU Sports Radio Network.