MIAMI – The FIU baseball program fell to the Florida Atlantic Owls, 5-3, in 11 innings Saturday evening at FIU Baseball Stadium.
 
After a back-and-forth battle throughout the night, Florida Atlantic pushed across two runs in the 11th inning on an error and a wild pitch to secure the road victory and the series win.
 
Both teams traded momentum early, featuring four lead changes throughout the contest. FIU struck first in the opening inning when Andrew Ildefonso lined a ball to left field, scoring Cooper Rasmussen to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Florida Atlantic answered in the third with an RBI single to right field to even the game at one.
 
In the fifth, Mario Trivella launched his team-leading sixth home run of the season to give FIU a 2-1 advantage. The Owls responded in the sixth with two runs on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single with two outs to take their first lead of the night.
 
FIU answered in the eighth after Aris Rivera tripled to left-center field. Caden Sammler delivered off the bench with a sacrifice fly to center, tying the game at 3-3.
 
The Panthers threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with one out, but Florida Atlantic escaped the jam to force extra innings before scoring the decisive runs in the 11th.
 
On the mound, George Adams turned in a career night in the start, striking out a career-high eight batters over five innings while allowing three earned runs. In relief, Tyrus Riley tossed two scoreless innings, while Enrique Sierra added 1.1 scoreless frames. Bryce Turner was tagged with the loss, allowing one earned run over two innings with four strikeouts. Jordan Vargas closed the game with 0.2 innings and one strikeout.
 
Offensively, FIU recorded eight hits, led by Ildefonso's career-high four-hit performance. He finished with a double and three singles, reaching base five times. Rasmussen added two hits, while Rivera and Trivella each recorded a hit.

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FIU heads to Boca Raton for the weekend finale on Sunday, March 8. It will be streamed live on FAUSports.TV

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