FIU vs Old Dominion | March 25th, 2018

Miami, FL – All streaks must come to an end. The Old Dominion Monarchs lead the all-time series against FIU, 9-5, and has never lost a series to the Panthers. That is, until last night, when Austin Shenton walked off in the bottom of the 12^th to give FIU the 8-7 win and the series, after also winning on Friday, 5-4.

🚨WALK OFF SZN🚨 Shenton walks it off in extras! Panthers win 8-7! pic.twitter.com/D78sZm82Yz

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) March 25, 2018

Today, the Monarchs got the early lead, as they scored two in the 2nd inning. Eric Stock walked to lead off the inning and would advance to 3^rd base off of a Will Morgan single. Tommy Bell would single, bringing in Stock, and an error at 3^rd base would also bring in Morgan for an unearned run. Errors seem to be a theme for FIU, as they lead Conference USA with 45 errors this season thus far. Another achilles heel for FIU has been their pitching. Coming into today’s game, the Panthers rank 10^th in Conference USA ERA at 4.93. The offense is showing up though. FIU is 4^th in batting average, at .292, and 2^nd in runs scored with 166 runs scored coming into this game. Also in the 2^nd inning, FIU would cut into the lead with a Lorenzo Hampton double, followed by an Adan Fernandez RBI single, scoring Hampton.

T3
ODU 2-3-0
FIU 1-2-1
Fernandez RBI single

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) March 25, 2018

In the 6^th inning, ODU’s Kyle Battle led off with a walk. Then, he stole 2^nd base. Vinnie Pasquantino flew out to center field, allowing Battle to tag-up and advance to 3^rd. Eric Stock followed up with an RBI single, scoring Battle. However, FIU would engineer a comeback in the 7^th and 8^th innings. Christian Khawam, who leads FIU with a .450 on-base percentage, singled in the 7th, followed up by a Hampton single, advancing Khawam to 2^nd. Once again, Fernandez would hit an RBI, this time a double, scoring Khawam, but the Panthers would leave two in scoring position. In the 8^th, Juan Teixeira tripled and was brought home by a Derek Cartaya sacrifice fly.

#5 @D_cartaya9 evens things up for @FIUBaseball heading into the 9th! 3-3

👑 3 7 0
😼 3 7 1
⬆9⃣#FIUvsODU #CUSABASE pic.twitter.com/2buBwjwLlL

— Lemon City Live (@LemonCityLive) March 25, 2018

In the 9^th, FIU hoped to steal the game, but the Monarchs had another idea. Bell singled, followed by a Devon Adams single, moving Bell to 3^rd base. Another error would give Bell and the Monarchs another unearned run, and the game. FIU literally threw this game away. The Panthers fall 4-3, but had already wrapped up the series. It was the first time FIU won a series vs. ODU. Next up, FIU travels to Louisiana Tech for a three-game series from Thursday, March 29^th to Saturday, March 31^st.

Despite losing today’s final game of the series, @FIUBaseball defeats the Monarchs by taking the series 2-1 this weekend!

Hear from Head Coach Mervyl Melendez on his thoughts of the team’s performance overall this weekend!#PawsUp ⚾ pic.twitter.com/TyMoz16Tv0

— FIU Panther Vision (@FIUPantherVIS) March 25, 2018