FIU Baseball Can’t Hold Big Lead, Suffers First Loss Of Season

MIAMI, FL – Undefeated seasons are hard to come by in college baseball, and there will be none for FIU as they dropped their series finale to Delaware by a score of 7-6 in 12 innings.

Batting was never a concern in this game. However, the wheels fell off FIU’s defense and pitching staff in the seventh inning. Not even a 5-0 lead was enough for the Panthers against the 1-5 Blue Hens.

FIU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Cole Cleveland continued his solid showing in this series with a two-run double, bringing home Brylan West and Kishon Frett. Not long after, Alex Ulloa smacked a single to center field, sending Cleveland home for a 3-0 lead.

They netted a couple more runs here and there, with an RBI single by Astin Dearing and a sac-fly by Javier Crespo. All in all, they carried a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning. On the mound, FIU Logan Runde has another outing, going four innings with only four hits allowed and no runs, striking out six Hens.

Unfortunately, the three-run bomb closed things in, and another solo shot helped to tie it all up. FIU’s bullpen wasn’t able to maintain what Runde was able to do. Crespo lined an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth gave Delaware one more equalizer.

All was quiet in the 10th and 11th innings. In the 12th, however, the Blue Hens loaded the bases once again and scored a run off a walk. FIU couldn’t respond in the bottom inning.

Interestingly, the Panthers racked up a combined 20 strikeouts – tying the school record for the most thrown in a single game.

There goes FIU’s perfect record, but they still have a solid 7-1 standing. They’ll FINALLY head on the road this week, driving up to Tampa to take on the USF Bulls on Tuesday, February 25th at 6pm.