HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Kishon Frett launched his 20th home run of the season as the FIU baseball program clinched a series victory with a 7-4 win over Sam Houston on Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
FIU (29-25, 12-13 CUSA) secured its fifth Conference USA (CUSA) series win of the season and will look to complete the sweep in Saturday's regular-season finale ahead of the CUSA Championships in Lynchburg, Va.
The Panthers struck first in the opening frame, with Austin Dearing ripping an RBI double down the right-field line to score Andrew Ildefonso. Sam Houston (12-42, 6-20 CUSA) responded in the second, tying the game on a balk.
In the third, FIU reclaimed the lead as Javier Crespo crushed a two-run homer to left-center — his fourth of the season. However, the Bearkats answered with a three-run bottom half, highlighted by a two-run shot and an RBI single to take a 4-3 lead.
Frett responded in emphatic fashion in the fourth, blasting a two-run go-ahead home run to left-center to give FIU a 5-4 edge. The homer marked his 20th of the season, making him the first Panther to reach the milestone since 2009 and becoming the fourth in program history to hit the 20 mark.
FIU added insurance runs in the fifth, beginning with a perfectly executed RBI bunt from Kareh Valentin, followed by an Alex Ulloa RBI single to right field that scored Crespo to cap the scoring at 7-4.
Jarek Woodward made his fifth start of the season, allowing four earned runs over 2.2 innings with two strikeouts. Julian Mlodzinski earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief and three strikeouts, while Logan Runde secured his first career save with four shutout innings, surrendering just two hits and striking out four.
The Panthers tallied 11 hits in the win, with Ulloa recording his second consecutive multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Dearing added a two-hit night with a double, Cole Cleveland chipped in with a double, and Brendan Roney added a base hit.
UP NEXT
FIU prepares for the regular season finale on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. from Don Sanders Stadium.
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