FIU baseball, softball teams endure a week without a win

Baseball couldn’t get themselves in the win column last week, going 0-3 in their three-game series against Louisiana Tech from April 14 to 16 at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, Louisiana.

The first game of the series kicked off with the Panthers scoring in the top of the second inning. Adrian Figueroa scored Alec Sanchez with a double to put FIU up 1-0.

The Bulldogs responded with two runs off sacrifice flies by Adrius Myers and Walker Burchfield, then took a 7-1 lead after scoring five runs total in the third and fifth innings.

FIU began to mount a comeback in the sixth. Mike Rosario hit a solo home run and Sanchez a two-run home run to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 7-4.

Henry Wallen would score Sanchez with a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 7-5, but that’s where the offense ended for the Panthers.

Game 2 was a low-scoring affair highlighted by exceptional pitching and defense by both teams.

After five scoreless innings, FIU finally broke free when junior Ruben Carpio hit a single to drive in Rosario, 1-0.

Louisiana Tech scored in the eighth on an RBI single by junior Dalton Davis to give the Bulldogs the lead before Sanchez hit a solo home run to snatch it right back for FIU, 2-1.

The Bulldogs responded to send the game to extra innings, where senior Philip Matulia would hit a walk-off solo home run to seal the win for Louisiana Tech, 3-2.

The series finale saw the Bulldogs jump out to an early lead, scoring six unanswered runs from the first inning to the fourth.

FIU finally got on the board in the top of the fourth, as Sanchez would hit his third solo home run of the series to score. Wallen then hit an RBI double, making the score 6-2.

Louisiana Tech scored three more runs in the fifth for a 10-3 advantage.

Craig Palidar hit a home run to cut the lead to 10-5 to complete the scoring.

Softball

The Panthers’ losing streak reached four after a 9-1 loss to host UCF on April 11.

Junior Chloe Evans got the Knights going with a triple and score off an FIU error in the second inning.

Shannon Doherty followed up with her sixth home run of the season to give UCF a 2-0 edge. Doherty’s home run moves her up to fourth on the UCF all-time list with 26.

The Knights then unleashed a three-run third inning to soar to a 5-0 lead.

Evans smashed in her second triple of the day to score Jasmine Williams, and Aubrey Evans. Doherty followed up with a run-scoring single.

Holding a massive lead, UCF still didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal, scoring four more runs in the fourth for good measure.

FIU scored its only run of the night in the fifth when Morgan Adams hit an RBI double to score Lindsey Burroughs. The team’s offensive efforts for the rest of the day fell completely flat as UCF ran away with the win, 9-1.

UCF’s Sarah Willis threw four scoreless innings while only allowing three hits. Willis continues her dominance on the mound with a .169 batting average-against and 56 strikeouts this season.

After the loss, FIU fell to 18-22 overall and 5-10 in conference play, ranking eighth in Conference USA.

Brian Olmo is the Sports Director for PantherNOW.

Follow Brian Olmo on Twitter at @Brian_Olmo11