MIAMI – The FIU baseball team came up short against Florida Gulf Coast, falling 8-4 on Tuesday night at FIU Baseball Stadium.
The Eagles struck first in the second inning, plating three runs with two outs on a pair of singles off FIU left-hander
Juan Villarreal. Making his first start of the season, Villarreal finished with four strikeouts while allowing three earned runs in two innings of work.
Freshman
Cole Cleveland put FIU (12-6) on the board in the third, launching his second home run of the season to right field. Cleveland, who made his eighth start of the year on Tuesday, leads the team with 15 RBIs.
FGCU extended its lead in the sixth as Harrison Povey doubled down the right-field line to drive in a run, making it 5-1. The Eagles added three more runs across the seventh and eighth innings to push their advantage to 8-1.
FIU responded in the bottom of the eighth when
Alex Ulloa cut the deficit in half with a three-run homer, his second long ball of the season.
The Panthers used six pitchers on the night, including Villarreal,
Julian Mlodzinski,
Bryce Greene,
Toby Haarer,
Bryce Turner, and
Tristan Dietrich. Mlodzinski tossed two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, while Turner fanned three in 1.1 innings of relief.
Offensively, FIU recorded eight hits, led by multi-hit performances from Cleveland, Ulloa, and West.
Javier Crespo,
Kishon Frett, and
Brendan Roney each added a hit in the contest.
UP NEXT
FIU hosts Bucknell for four games, beginning on Thursday, March 13 from FIU Baseball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
BAPTIST HEALTH
Presented by Baptist Health, The Official Sports Medicine Provider of FIU Athletics
SOCIAL MEDIA
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