GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 5, 2016) – A sacrifice fly from senior
Dominique Grossman (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) in the seventh inning lifted the FIU Panthers past the South Alabama Jaguars Sunday morning in the final day of the Aquafina UF Invitational at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
FIU is 13-8, winners of two in a row. South Alabama was receiving votes in the USA Today / National Fastpitch Coaches Association Coaches Poll this week, and drops to 10-8.
The Jaguars scored both of their runs in the first inning, when FIU senior pitcher
Corinne Jenkins (Sarasota, Florida / Riverview HS) struggled to find her footing and got off to a rough start, allowing four walks, one for a run, and an RBI single.
But, only two South Alabama hitters reached second the rest of the game, to allow her FIU offense to do its job.
The Panthers broke through and got on the scoreboard in the third inning. Freshman
Deven Kennedy (Montgomery, Alabama) reached on a two-base error by the pitcher, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on a second error in the inning. With two outs, junior
Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep HS) tied the game with an RBI single, scoring sophomore
Jessica Hallett (Phoenix, Arizona), who had reached on a fielder's choice.
The score remained tied at two all the way to the seventh, starting with a walk to sophomore
A.J. Belans (Hollywood, Florida / American Heritage HS). She advanced to third after a Kennedy sacrifice bunt and a Jaguars passed ball. That set the stage for Grossman to lift a ball to center, deep enough to push across Belans for the game-winning run.
Jenkins improved her record to 2-3 with her second complete-game of the year, scattering seven hits and the two earned runs. She walked six batters and struck out five.
Jaguar reliever Destine Vicknair allowed the game-winning run in the seventh to take the loss and drop to 5-2. She tossed three innings, with a strikeout and a walk. The run charged to her was unearned.
The Panthers return to action Tuesday, March 8
th, as they take on East Carolina at home on Felsberg Field. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium. About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers 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 $9.8 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/.
