FIU’s final regular season tune-up began on Thursday against the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big 10, and they didn’t disappoint as they took care of business, winning by a score of 2-1 to start the series off on a high note.
On the mound, Logan Runde made his first appearance since April 19th against New Mexico State. As it turns out this was a homecoming game for the Iowa native.
Going curveball-heavy, Runde struck out three Hawkeye hitters and generated four whiffs, and all three of his strikeouts were swinging. Two of his three strikeouts were on the curveball while his final strikeout came on the slider.
On the other end, future first-round pick Brody Brecht struggled in his one inning of work. Brecht walked the bases loaded and walked in a run to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning, the Panthers faced another pitcher Aaron Savary and he gave up an RBI single to Bryaln West to drive in Kishon Frett.
The Panthers bullpen would give up one run in the bottom of the third when first baseman Davis Cop hit a 347-foot homer that left the bat at 98.8 mph.
A bullpen comprised of Jaydon Bishop, Zac Lampton, and Ryan Cabarcas limited the Iowa offense to one run and struck them out eight times.
With the Panthers playing in a minor league ballpark, the stat cast becomes available to the public. The hardest hit ball of the game came from Kishon Frett at 110 mph.
The hardest thrown pitch by an FIU pitcher came from Zac Lampton – a 90.6 mph sinker. The FIU pitcher who generated the most swings and misses was Jaydon Bishop with nine.
FIU’s win over Iowa is the first win for the Panthers over a Big 10 opponent since 2014 when they took down Rutgers.
The Panthers will look to take the series tomorrow at 7:35pm with Joel Pineiro at the mound.
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