HUNTINGTON, West Virginia (March 15, 2019) – Thanks to the bat of freshman Chris Williams, the FIU baseball team opened the 2019 Conference USA slate with an extra-inning, 3-0 victory over Marshall on a blustery day in West Virginia. 

The freshman belted his first collegiate home run on Friday afternoon, as Williams knocked a three-run shot over the right field wall in the 10th inning to secure FIU's first league win of the season. With the win, the Panthers improve to 10-7 (1-0 C-USA) on the season. Marshall falls to 10-7 (0-1 C-USA) for the 2019 campaign.

Jose Varela was the pitcher of record for the Panthers as he earned his first victory of the season, while Robert Kwaitkowski was handed the loss for the Thundering Herd.

Reigning C-USA Pitcher of the Week Logan Allen pitched five scoreless and struck out eight members of the Thundering Herd. The Panther bullpen only allowed four hits over the final five innings for its second shutout of the season.
 
Six different Panthers collected base hits. Javier Valdes was the only FIU player with multiple hits.
 
The entire course of the game changed when Williams stepped to the plate in the 10th inning. Williams, a freshman, turned on a 0-1 pitch and blasted one over the right field wall to score Juan Teixeira and John Rodriguez and give the Blue & Gold the advantage.
 
Everett Hurst slammed the door shut for his first save of the season to seal the victory for FIU in the bottom half of the 10th frame.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers and the Thundering Herd return to the banks of Ohio on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET for game two of the weekend.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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