MIAMI – Florida International used a pair of two-run rallies and a shutdown effort from its pitching staff to hold off Missouri, 4-3, Thursday evening in the opening contest of the two clubs’ four-game series at FIU Baseball Field.
Dante Girardi’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh snapped a 2-2 tie, before Ryne Guida doubled the Panther lead with a two-out, RBI single to cap the rally. Guida and Alec Sanchez contributed key hits in each of FIU’s two scoring rallies.
FIU (3-2) held on to the lead, despite a wobbly start to the top of the ninth by Cameron Knox, who yielded a Mizzou run on a wild pitch, before getting a strikeout, a pop up and a game-ending ground ball to short to close out the decision.
Mike Rosario finished 2-for-4 with a pair of steals, while Adrian Figueroa added two hits, including a critical two-run single in the first.
On the mound, four FIU hurlers combined to limit Mizzou (2-2) to seven hits. CJ McKennitt (1-0) earned the victory with 2.0 hitless innings, after Ryan Cabarcas fanned four Tigers over his 4.0 frames.
The Panthers gained the upper hand in the home half, putting four straight batters aboard against Mizzou right-hander Chandler Murphy. Sanchez started the rally with a one-out single, before Girardi drew a walk and Guida fought off a two-strike pitch to loop a base hit to right that loaded the bases.
Figueroa delivered the key blow on a full-count offering, driving a two-run single through the right side to put FIU in front, 2-0.
Cabarcas, the FIU starter, cruised through the first two innings, allowing just a Tre Morris single in the second.
But Hank Zeisler greeted the lefty in the third by lofting the first pitch he saw over the wall in left for his first home run as a Tiger.
Murphy settled into a groove on the mound for the Tigers, retiring eight straight Panthers at one point. In all, he allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts over his 5.0 innings.
Following Zeisler’s lead, Trevor Austin launched a solo shot to left with two out in the sixth, knotting the score at 2-2.
After the Panthers threatened in the sixth, a leadoff walk to Steven Ondina and a one-out double by Sanchez set the table for the decisive rally the following inning. Girardi lifted a fly ball to deep center to bring in Ondina with the go-ahead tally, before Guida lined a run-scoring hit to left to make it a 4-2 game.
Mizzou’s ninth inning started promisingly, with Austin and Morris recording back-to-back hits. A wild pitch brought in Austin to cut the margin to a single run with the potential tying run in scoring position.
But a strikeout of Zeisler and a pop fly to short off the bat of Ty Wilmsmeyer turned the momentum in FIU’s favor. Knox then induced the game-ending grounder to short on his first offering to Justin Colon.
The quartet of FIU pitchers combined to strike out 11 Tigers on the night.
UP NEXT
Mizzou and FIU continue their series Friday (Feb. 24) with another 5:30 p.m. (CT), before concluding the weekend with a 4 p.m. game Saturday (Feb. 25) and an 11 a.m. tilt Sunday (Feb. 26).
