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AlecSanchezSecondBase
4
Middle Tennessee MT 23-20
5
Winner FIU FIU 14-28
Middle Tennessee MT
23-20
4
Final
5
FIU FIU
14-28
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Middle Tennessee MT 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4 14 1
FIU FIU 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 9 1

W: Tiburcio, Angel (3-3) L: Trent Seibert (4-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

FIU Downs Middle Tennessee In Extras To Open Series

Sanchez ends it in the 11th

MIAMI (May 6, 2022) – Behind Alec Sanchez's second walk-off hit of the season, the FIU baseball team outlasted the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Friday night by a score of 5-4 in 11 innings.

The Panther trio of Steven Ondina, Matthew Gonzalez and Ruben Carpio each had a two-hit night to start the weekend. Ondina and Carpio also drove in a run on the evening.
 
Adrian Figueroa, Noel Perez and Sanchez each collected an RBI to account for all five Panther runs.
 
In a no-decision, Patrick Pridgen surrendered four runs over 6.2 innings with 12 strikeouts to become just the 17th Panther in program history to punch out 100 batters in a single season. 
 
Angel Tiburcio tossed 3.2 innings of shutout baseball in relief to pick up his third win of the year. 
 
The FIU scoring started in the home half of the third when Noel Perez launched a 2-2 delivery over the wall in right field for his second home run of the season. 
 
Perez's dinger in the third jump started the Panther offense that saw the Blue & Gold offense score one run in four consecutive innings. 
 
Carpio plated Jorge Ramirez in the fourth before Ondina scampered home on a Figueroa sacrifice fly in the fifth to construct a 3-0 advantage after five innings of play. 
 
The two longtime Conference USA foes traded runs in the sixth when Middle Tennessee broke the shutout with a solo shot of their own in the top half before FIU answered right back to make it 4-1 via an Ondina sacrifice fly that scored Dante Girardi.
 
Middle Tennessee tied the series opener at 4-all in the seventh by scoring a pair of runs after an FIU error kept the inning alive. 
 
After coming in as a defensive replacement in the eighth, Mario Zabala worked a leadoff walk in the 11th to put the second Panther walk-off of the season into motion. An Ondina single pushed Zabala to second and brought Sanchez to the plate with a chance to end it. 
 
On the second pitch of the at-bat, Sanchez roped a base hit to the wall in left center that allowed Zabala to score with ease from second to give FIU a much-needed 5-4 victory. 
 
Friday was just the second Panther walk-off victory of the season and the first since Sanchez singled home Ondina in the bottom of the ninth to top the St. Thomas (Minn.) Tommies on Opening Night. 
 
UP NEXT
FIU and Middle Tennessee will play 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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