LYNCHBURG, Va. – The FIU baseball program fell in the rubber match on Saturday afternoon, losing 12-11 to the Liberty Flames.
In the ninth inning as the Panthers were up 11-10, Liberty scored a pair of runs to ensure the series victory over FIU.
It was a back-and-forth affair that saw FIU take an early 5-1 advantage to the fifth, before the Flames posted a combined nine runs in the fifth and sixth inning to post a 10-5 lead. Yet, the FIU offense which logged 17 hits as a ballclub rallied back with a six-run seventh, making it 11-10 before Liberty walked it off.
Liberty scored the first run on a RBI single. The FIU offense got rolling in the second on a two-run single off the bat of
Nick Pitelli. In the third, the Panthers scored a pair of runs on a
Austin Dearing RBI walk and a
Roylan Quevedo RBI sacrifice fly.
Into the fourth,
Brylan West led off the frame with a solo blast to deep left field, his eighth of the season, extending it to a 5-1 lead. West had a solid day at the plate with a three-hit afternoon and three RBI, his eighth 3+ hit performance on the year.
The Flames would comeback, plating five in the fifth and then four in the sixth to take a 10-5 lead heading into the seventh.
FIU responded in the seventh inning with a six-spot, beginning on a passed ball that scored Dearing. West then ripped a two-run ground rule double into right centerfield, cutting the deficit to two.
Ryne Guida, who had his second three-hit game of the series, hit a deep RBI double to dead center, making it a one-run ballgame. The senior extended his on-base streak to 31 games on Saturday with a total of 8 RBI in the series.
Jeff Liquori tied it up on a RBI double down the right field line as the senior logged a five-hit afternoon, career-high for the Lake Mary, Fla. native. Quevedo closed out the frame with a go-ahead RBI single to left as the sophomore had a two-hit day from Lynchburg.
In the ninth, Liberty loaded the bases with nobody out, scoring the tying run and singling for the walk-off win.
Ryan Cabarcas made the second consecutive start for FIU, working 4.1 innings and allowed five earned runs with four strikeouts. Righty
Owen Puk allowed just a run in an inning while
Jaydon Bishop (0-1) posted a pair of innings on three hits and two earned runs.
The Panthers offense posted 17 hits, their 22
nd game with 10 or more hits as a ballclub. Five players had multi-hit efforts (Guida, Liquori, Quevedo,
Alex Ulloa, and West), while eight of the nine players in the lineup got on base throughout the afternoon.
UP NEXT
FIU prepares for their final home-and-home midweek series against Miami, this Wednesday, May 8 from Coral Gables. First pitch from Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field is set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
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