Charlotte would like to forget the previous meeting at FIU, which turned into a landslide of 23 runs behind a poor defensive outing. In todays game, although more suspenseful, Charlotte (7-11, 1-8) continued to struggle with three errors FIU took advantage of to edge out the 49ers 7-5.
The Panthers would draw first blood to lead off the second with a base hit from Zach Soria followed by a sacrifice bunt from Austin Rodriguez to move Soria to second. J.C Escarra would clean up a pitch and single up the middle to plate Soria and give FIU the early 1-0 lead.
FIU extended their lead to three in the third inning as Julius Gaines took first on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Niners. Charlotte’s woes continued after a wild pitch brought home Gaines. Edwin Rios would then blast his fourth homer of the weekend on a solo shot to right field.
Charlotte cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Danny Raley started the Niners off with a single to right and advanced to second on a FIU fielding error. With Zach Jarrett on base by fielders choice, Brett Netzer then singled to left followed by an RBI base hit from T.J Nichting which brought home Raley. Brad Elwood would then follow with a sacrifice fly to left that brought home Jarrett trimming the lead to 3-2.
The Niners would run into some more trouble when FIU tacked on two more runs in the fifth off a lead off triple from Brian Portelli and the first of two balks called on the Niner pitching staff. Later on Edwin Rios would use a walk to his advantage rounding the bases and scoring off an RBI groundout to short off the bat of Mitchell Robinson. In the sixth inning Jack Schaaf would be walked, advance to second on a fielders choice and take third on the Niners second balk of the afternoon and scored off a Soria RBI. This gave FIU a comfortable 6-2 lead until the Niners made things interesting in the eighth inning.
Charlotte would start their rally with base hits from Hunter Jones, Nick Daddio and Raley, loading the bases and forcing FIU to bring in reliever Danny Dopico. Dopico would get two quick strikeouts but Nichting’s two-RBI single to center and Elwood’s base hit cut the lead back to one at 6-5.
FIU would cease Charlotte’s momentum with a late insurance run in the bottom half of the eighth inning as Rios singled Gaines home. The Niners had one last chance to render a dramatic comeback in the ninth inning putting the tying run on base, but momentum was quickly halted after a pair of strikeouts by Dopico.
“We still had a chance in the last couple of innings,” said Charlotte head coach Loren Hibbs. “When we get in these environments we’ve got to do a better job not only playing, we’ve got to do a better job managing the game and we’ve got to do a better job developing more depth because you’ve got to use more guys,”
The Niners will finish up their road trip with Wake Forest for their first of two meetings this season. The game is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday night..