MIAMI, FL – FIU baseball bounced back on Sunday, recording an 8-6 victory in dramatic fashion over Bucknell in a much-needed win before conference play.
The Panthers led from the start and never looked back, denying Bucknell’s late rally. While it was not a series win, there’s room for optimism as the season’s most important stretch is upon us.
FIU struck early in the second inning. In his first collegiate start as a Panther, Ryan Hunter got the job done with an RBI sac fly. Both Nelson Rivera Flores and Kareh Valentin followed suit with RBI singles of their own. To give the Panthers a 3-0 lead early on.
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While Bucknell got a run back in the following inning, FIU limited the damage and answered with a run of their own. Javier Crespo did the honors, driving in Andrew Ildefonso with another sacrifice fly. Bucknell and FIU exchanged another pair of runs in the fifth inning, leaving FIU with a 5-2 lead. In the seventh inning, the Panthers added three insurance runs.
Unfortunately, the same problems reemerged for FIU, with their bullpen unable to stop late comebacks. Bucknell crawled back into this game with four runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run homer and a pair of RBI singles. Thankfully, Jarek Woodward closed this game with four final outs to secure his first save in the blue and gold.
On the mound, Juan Villarreal was solid, only allowing two earned runs and four strikeouts in five innings of work – his most this season. Owen Puk was flawless as a reliever with two no-hit innings. Davis Eckaus struggled, however, allowing four earned runs.
That’s it for the nonconference stretch of the season for FIU. They’ll start taking on Conference USA opponents, beginning with a three-game set against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. That starts on Friday, March 21st, at 6:30pm.
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