The Charlotte 49ers tallied their third win in a row Friday night against Conference USA foe FIU. The 49ers were down early, taking a 2-0 deficit in the beginning frames. Miraculously, Charlotte turned all of that around with a five-spot in the fourth inning that fueled their 5-4 victory.

It was Charlotte’s (7-9, 1-6) Brett Netzer and Zach Jarrett who started all the magic, hitting back-to-back singles. T.J. Nichting followed with a zinging double into right-field, allowing Jarrett to score for the 49ers first time on the evening.

Right-field seemed to be the hole in FIU’s defense Friday night as Luke Gibbs found another gap and delivered the eventual game-winning RBI and a 3-2 lead. Nick Daddio, Charlotte’s recent go-to guy, closed the inning with a two-RBI double scoring Sherer and Gibbs for the final two runs of the evening for the 49ers.

Even with a momentum swinging fourth inning, the Panthers (9-13, 1-3) weren’t ready to pack up their bags just yet. The game started to get more and more intense with each out getting closer to the 49ers first conference victory.

Incredible pitching by Niners’ starter Sean Geoghegan for eight straight innings is what really closed this game out, as it seemed he got everything he wanted Friday night. He allowed just four hits while firing a career-high eight strikeouts. Geoghegan really found his rhythm late in the game, retiring 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.

“It was a good effort,” said Charlotte head coach Loren Hibbs. “Starting pitching really got us to where we needed to be and the bullpen was good enough. I thought we did a whole lot of good things offensively early in the game. We played good enough defense and did what we needed to do to win. I’m proud of the effort.”

Charlotte will look for a repeat performance in game two on Saturday evening. First pitch in that contest is scheduled for 6 p.m.