Zack Soria singled off Rice closer Glenn Otto to drive in
Jack Schaaf with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning to rally FIU past Rice 4-3 in the nightcap of a doubleheader Saturday at Reckling Park in Houston.
The Panthers (13-10, 2-3 Conference USA) erased a 3-0 deficit with single runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings to gain a split of the twinbill with the Owls (7-18, 1-4) that was scheduled after Friday's series opener was postponed due to inclement weather.
Rice starter Zach Esquivel kept FIU at bay through the first four innings but in the fifth
Christian Khawam singled and
Nick Day doubled him home to open the scoring for the Panthers.
Irving Lopez singled in the sixth, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by
Kenny Meimerstorf to bring FIU within 3-2.
Kobe Lopez led off the seventh with a single and was moved to second on
Adam Sevario's sacrifice bunt.
Irving Lopez tied the score with a single to right.
The Panthers got the eventual winning run in the eighth. Meimerstorf singled and was lifted for Schaaf to pinch run. Khawam doubled to put runners on second and third base for Soria who lined a single to right off Otto (0-2) to give FIU the 4-3 lead.
FIU was able to rally because starter
Chris Mourelle kept the Panthers in the game with a quality start. Mourelle went six innings, allowed six hits, three earned runs and struck out five.
Tyler Myrick (3-0) pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Mourelle to pick up his team-leading third win.
Irving Lopez was 3 for 5. Khawam was 3 for 4 and Meimerstorf was 2 for 4. For the doubleheader,
Irving Lopez was 5 for 9 and Khawam was 4 for 8.
FIU and Rice wrap up the series Sunday with a 2 p.m. EDT first pitch.
Game 1 – Rice 8, FIU 4
Two FIU errors in the bottom of the fifth inning set the stage for Rice to defeat FIU 8-4 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park in Houston.
Ryan Chandler and Dane Myers reached base on errors against Panthers starter
Robert Garcia to start the bottom of the fifth inning. After a sacrifice bunt,
Alex Demchak relieved and walked Tristan Gray to load the bases. Dayne Wunderlich pinch hit for Brad Gneiting and delivered a sacrifice fly to score Chandler with the go-ahead run to make it 5-4 Owls.
Rice added three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase its lead to 8-4.
Garcia (1-4) went 4 1/3 innings, allowed five hits, five runs, three earned, walked two and struck out one batter.
Irving Lopez went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Panthers in the first game.
