By: Malcolm Shields/ Staff Writer
In a day full of dramatics, the Golden Panthers split the first two games in a three-game series versus Troy on April 2. Sophomore Jessy Alfonso hit two crucial home runs to keep the Golden Panthers in both games.
FIU 3, Troy 0
The first game of the doubleheader was a pitcher’s duel between FIU’s Jenn Gniadek and Troy’s Ashlyn Williams. Neither team struggled to string together hits consistently to put runners in scoring position throughout the game.
The Trojans threatened to score in the top of the sixth inning with one out when Hayden Gann reached base on a walk. Gann would then steal second base. The Trojans would have runners on first and second with two outs after another walk was issued to Sarah Shields. Gniadek pitched herself out of a jam by forcing a ground out by Taylor Smartt to end the inning.
The bottom of the sixth inning finally saw runs scored in the game after Jenny Welch led off the inning for the Golden Panthers with a single. With one out, Jackie Tetlow reached base on a throwing error by Shields. Alfonso stepped up to the plate with two outs and on a 2-2 pitch, she hit a fly ball to left-center field that just barely went over the wall to give FIU a 3-0 lead.
“I was looking for an in pitch,” Alfonso said. “[Williams] is a really good pitcher. You’ve got have to have patient at bats and wait for your pitch.”
Gniadek finished out the seventh inning to record her eight win of the season.
“Once you have the lead, it just throw strikes and make them hit it,” Gniadek said.
Troy 6, FIU 5
In game two, FIU took a 1-0 lead inthe first inning. Peller reached base on a double. She moved to third on a wild pitch by Morgan Grove. Another wild pitch scored Beth Peller from third base. The Trojans countered in the second inning. After a Michelle Hewett single, Shields laced a triple down the left field line scoring Hewett to tie the game at one.
The Trojans added another run in the third on a sac fly by Nikki Hollett scored Kelly Luquette from third who reached base on a throwing error by Kayla Burri and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Mariah Dawson.
Troy took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning off of a solo homer by Sarah Harris to left field. The Golden Panthers (20-16, 6-2 SBC) fought their way back into the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Ashley McClain crushed a solo homer to center to cut the deficit to one run.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and a 1-1 count, Alfonso hit her second homer of the day to tie the game at 3-3.
“We just had to show our fight throughout the whole game and not give up,” Alfonso said.
The game headed to extra innings, but neither team was able to score a run in the eighth or ninth innings.
In the top of the tenth inning, Troy (21-17, 2-6 SBC) broke the tie by scoring three runs. The biggest blow came off a Smartt single with two runners on base. A fielding error by Erika Arcuri allowed both runners to score to give Troy a 6-3 lead.
In the bottom of the tenth, Burri singled to center which scored Brie Rojas from second to make it a 6-4 game. A walk to Rachael Slowik put two runners on with one out.
A groundout by Tetlow moved Burri and Slowik to third and second respectively. On a wild pitch Burri scored from third to make it a 6-5 ballgame, but pinch hitter Alex Casals grounded out to end the game.
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