MIAMI – The FIU baseball porgram dropped the opening game of its weekend series against the Liberty Flames, falling 4-2 on Friday night at FIU Baseball Stadium.
It was a tightly contested pitcher's duel early on, with FIU (26-24, 9-12 CUSA) taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a solo home run from Austin Dearing — his fourth of the season — sent the opposite way.
Liberty (28-23, 8-14 CUSA) responded with a pair of runs in the fourth, but FIU quickly answered in the fifth as Brylan West crushed a no-doubt solo shot — his 10th of the season — off the bat at 109 mph to tie the game at 2-2.
The Flames regained the lead in the eighth inning with back-to-back home runs and held on from there to secure the win.
On the mound, Easton Marks turned in another impressive performance, tossing seven strong innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out eight — tying his career-high for innings pitched. Juan Villarreal was tagged with the loss (6-4), giving up the go-ahead runs in the eighth despite notching two strikeouts. Tracen Cameron closed out the ninth with a scoreless frame and two punchouts.
At the plate, both Dearing and West recorded multi-hit games, while Cole Cleveland and Javier Crespo added base hits. Kishon Frett extended his on-base streak to 33 consecutive games.
UP NEXT
FIU prepares for game two of the series on Saturday, May 10. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
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