By: Malcolm Shields / Staff Writer
The Golden Panthers (15-12, 3-0 SBC) took to the field on March 15 and 16 against Middle Tennessee (5-16, 0-3 SBC) in their Sun Belt Conference opener at home and swept the Blue Raiders in the series.
FIU 3, MTSU 2 (8)
In game one, both teams did not score until the fourth inning. With two outs, Brie Rojas doubled to centerfield to extend the inning for FIU.
Kayla Burri drove in Rojas from second on a single that just went over the glove of shortstop Brittney Banania to give FIU a 1-0 lead.
“I hit it off the handle. It wasn’t a solid hit but it worked,” Burri said. “If that’s gonna get us a run, I’ll take it.”
The Blue Raiders countered in the fifth inning by loaded the bases on three walks and tied the game when Natalie Ysais was hit by a pitch to force in a run from third base.
The game went into extra innings. In the top of the eighth inning, with two outs, Kaycee Popham crushed a homer to right-center field to give MTSU a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Panthers began the bottom of the eighth inning with a leadoff solo homer by Jessy Alfonso to tie the game.
After Beth Peller reached base, Ashley McClain hit a groundball and the throw to first sailed over first base, which allowed Peller to score from second to give FIU the win.
FIU 3, MTSU 2
In the second game on March 15, the Blue Raiders scored in the top of the first on a solo homer by Corrie Abel, but FIU answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a three-run homer down the left-field line by Burri.
“They got runners on for me,” Burri said. “I sat on an inside pitch and she threw it to me and I swung.”
The Blue Raiders added another run in the second inning on an RBI double by Kayla Toney to cut the deficit to 3-2.
After the early scoring, starting pitchers Janele Robinson for MTSU and Mariah Dawson for FIU turned the game into a pitcher’s duel.
MTSU mounted one last push to win in the seventh inning when Kelsey Dortch led the inning with a leadoff walk and then stole second with one out.
But Mariah Dawson struck out two consecutive Blue Raiders to end the game.
“I’m really trying to stay aggressive,” Dawson said. “If I pitch to where I’m supposed to, they are going to get out. So I did my job.”
FIU 6, MTSU 4
FIU scored two runs in the first inning in the series finale on March 16 on two sac flies by Ashley McClain and Rojas. Alfonso, Rojas, and Burri hit solo homers to extend the Golden Panther lead to 5-0 after three innings in their two-run victory.
“We showed a really versatile lineup today,” coach Beth Torina said. “We were able to manufacture and also hit the home runs. The home runs were nice but the key is that they were able to manufacture those first two [runs].”
MTSU got back into the game with RBI hits by Toney and Nina Dever cut the deficit to 5-2. FIU added a run in the fifth. A two run homer by Popham in the sixth, made it a 6-4 ballgame, but MTSU went down 1-2-3 in the seventh to end the game.
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