MIAMI (March 11, 2022) –  The FIU baseball team fell on Friday night in a 4-3 decision at the hands of the Jacksonville Dolphins.
 
Despite striking out 10 batters, Patrick Pridgen was dealt the loss after allowing four runs over five innings of work. The bullpen trio of Zac Lampton, Jack Clemente and David Eckaus tossed four shutdown innings in relief allowing only two hits.
 
Alec Sanchez belted his team-leading third home run of the season in the third inning to pace the Panther offense in the series opener. Robert Sotolongo collected a pair of base knocks on the evening that included a RBI in the seventh.
 
Dante Girardi and Jayden Melendez each had a hit on Friday, while Dalton Hurst scored twice.
 
Sanchez's homer gave the homestanding Panthers a 2-0 lead after three innings. The Dolphins answered back with three and another in the fifth to take a 4-2 advantage into the later innings.
 
FIU got back to within one run in the seventh when Hurst scored on Sotolongo's sharply hit double to left.
 
Jacksonville's Tyler Vogel extinguished the Panther rally in the ninth to preserve the 4-3 for a save, while the Dolphins starter Mason Adams picked up the win.
 
UP NEXT
FIU and Jacksonville will play in game two of the weekend set at FIU Baseball Stadium on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. ET.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
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