Once again the eighth inning was magic for FIU against No. 17 Florida Atlantic.
Irving Lopez singled home Nick Day to snap a tie score in the bottom of the eighth as the Panthers edged the Owls for the second consecutive night at the FIU ballpark. FIU won 4-3 Saturday to take the first two games of the three-game series against FAU and goes for the sweep Sunday afternoon.
FIU won a series from FAU for the first time since 2011 when both teams were in the Sun Belt Conference. FIU can sweep a series from FAU on Sunday for the first time since 1998 when both teams were in the Trans America Athletic Conference.
Friday night in the eighth inning FIU got a sacrifice fly from Zach Files to score the eventual winning run. On Saturday night it was three straight singles that got the job done for FIU (19-21, 7-10 Conference USA) against FAU (27-10, 11-6 C-USA).
With the score tied 3-3, FAU reliever Robbie Coursel (3-2) retired the first two FIU batters in the eighth inning before Day singled to right. Kenny Meimerstorf followed with an infield single in the 5.5 hole. Lopez, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Austin Rodriguez the inning before, cracked a single down the right field line in his first at-bat of the game to score Day.
The Panthers' win was made possible not only by Lopez's clutch hit but by an outstanding effort on the mound from right-hander Chris Mourelle (5-4). Mourelle went eight innings, allowed eight hits, two earned runs, walked two and struck out four to record his team-leading fifth win of the season.
For the second time in two nights, Williams Durruthy closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning. Durruthy notched his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Day led FIU going 3 for 4, including his team-leading seventh home run of the season. Rey Perez and Jack Schaaf were each 2 for 4.
The series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m. from the FIU ballpark. A couple of left-handers will matchup when Alex Demchak starts for FIU against Sean Labsan for FAU. The game can be seen on PantherVision and heard on the FIU Sports Radio Network.
