MIAMI – The FIU baseball team rallied late but fell just short, losing 7-6, in the middle game Friday night to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs from FIU Baseball Stadium.
After the Bulldogs made it a 7-4 lead heading in the bottom of the eighth, FIU answered with a pair of RBIs from
Hector Candelas and
Armando Becerra to cut it to a one-run ballgame.
The Panthers had runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth before Louisiana Tech held on to tie the series at one game apiece.
Louisiana Tech got on the board first on a RBI single, and then plated a pair in the third on a two-run homer. FIU railed back as catcher
Ronny Medina hit his first homer of his Panthers career with a two-run shot to left field, making it a one-run affair.
The Bulldogs responded of their own with a two-run fifth to bring the lead back to three. In the sixth, the long ball was the storyline for FIU as they went back-to-back on solo shots from
Andre Martinez and
Austin Dearing. The redshirt junior Dearing has extended his on-base streak to 15 games while homering in back-to-back games.
However, Louisiana Tech continued the seesaw battle racing up two-runs in the seventh to boast their lead to three and was just enough to secure the win.
On the mound, starter
Joel Pineiro was tagged with the loss, allowing three earned runs over four innings of work with two punchouts.
Jackson Ritchey came out the pen, working two innings through the middle innings.
Zac Lampton closed the night giving up two earned runs and struck out four in three innings including a scoreless ninth.
Eight Panthers logged hits on the night while
Adrian Figueroa paced the way with a multi-hit game.
UP NEXT
FIU looks for it's third straight CUSA series victory as they take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the rubber match on Saturday, March 30 at Noon from FIU Baseball Stadium. It can be streamed on ESPN+.
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