Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? Florida International's Chris Dunn went 4-for-6 with four runs scored, four RBI and two homers on Friday night to lead the Golden Panthers (19-20, 6-9) to a 12-7 win over UALR (15-22, 4-11) at Gary Hogan Field.
In a game in which the two teams combined for 33 hits, the Trojans rallied from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game at 7-all, but FIU reliever Jorge Ramos (4-4) closed out the game with 3.2 scoreless innings to help the Golden Panthers take the first game of the Sun Belt Conference series.
Dunn hit two homers in the win and scored the go-ahead run off a wild pitch in the top of the eighth. FIU's Luis Batista, John Petika and Kevin Mirabal tallied three hits a piece in the win.
UALR junior Robert Taylor racked up a team-high three hits, while freshman Brad Swiderski drove in three runs and delivered his first career home run in the loss.
The two teams return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m., with the final game slated for 11 a.m. on Sunday.
FIU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after opening the game with consecutive singles by Dunn and Corey Lozano. Dunn crossed the plate for the Golden Panthers first run of the game, scoring on a RBI groundout by Bautista, but junior starter David Klumpp got the next batter to fly out to escape the inning with a runner on third.
The Golden Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the second when Mirabal scored from third on an infield bunt single by Manuel Arrojo. Mirabal reached base on a double to right, and moved up to third on a groundout before scoring on the bunt single.
UALR cut its deficit to a run, 2-1, in the bottom of the second when Swiderski plated senior Brian Asbill with a sacrifice fly to left. Asbill led off the frame with a single through the right side, and took third on a hit and run play when Taylor singled to right center.
The two teams traded runs in the third inning, as FIU scored in the top half with a two-out RBI single by Petika just past the outstretched glove of a leaping Asbill at short. UALR answered in the bottom half, when Taylor ripped a two-out RBI single to left with runners on second and third. Senior Brett Lawler scored from third on Taylor's base knock, and senior Ryan Gotcher tried to follow suit but was nailed at the plate 7-2 for the final out.
Leading 3-2, FIU manufactured two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 7-2 lead. Dunn delivered the big blow in the fourth, belting a two-run homer to left to make it a 5-2 contest. A run-scoring base knock from Mirabal in the fifth put FIU on top 6-2. The Golden Panthers' lead reached five runs moments later when Bautista stole third base and came around to score when the throw to the bag sailed into the outfield.
Down 7-2, the Trojans busted out for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 7-all. Swiderski sparked UALR by following a single by Taylor with a two-run homer to left ? his first as a Trojan. A double by senior Matt King in the ensuing at-bat chased FIU starter Chris Allen from the game.
King moved up on a grounder and scored on a RBI single up the middle by junior Nick DeSanctis off reliever Brian Santana to bring UALR within two, 7-5. Lawler followed with a RBI double down the left field line to score DeSanctis and make it a 7-6 contest. After Santana hit Gotcher with a pitch, FIU called on Ramos to silence the rally.
Junior Osvaldo Torres ripped a RBI double off the wall in right to tie the game at 7-all, but Ramos got a strikeout and a groundout from the next two batters to escape the bases-loaded jam.
Dunn opened the eighth by flaring a single to center field off junior Derik Drewett, who came on for Klumpp in the sixth inning. Junior Steve Gilgenbach took the mound in place of Drewett, but loaded the bases by walking each of the first two batters he faced. After Dunn scored from third on a wild pitch by Gilgenbach, the Trojans turned to the bullpen again, calling on junior Joe Campbell.
Campbell intentionally walked Bautista to load the bases with one out, but Bryan Pullin made the Trojans pay with a two-run double to the right field corner to give FIU a 10-7 lead. An intentional walk to Petika loaded the bases again, but the Campbell made it work this time, escaping the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.
Dunn gave the Golden Panthers a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth, following up a leadoff walk by Arrojo with his second homer of the game ? a two-run blast to center.
Ramos got the win for FIU by scattering two hits and a walk over 3.2 innings, with four strikeouts. Drewett was credited with the loss, as Dunn's single in the eighth eventually became the winning run. The Pine Bluff, Ark.-native worked 1.2 innings with three hits, three strikeouts and one run allowed.
