MOBILE, Ala. ? Raiko Alfonso gave Florida International the lead when he brought in Michael Vargas with a RBI double in the eighth inning, and the Golden Panthers held off a late rally to knock off the University of South Alabama 8-7 Sunday afternoon at Stanky Field.
“Florida International came in and played really well,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “They really swung the bats in key situations and they got two-out hits when they needed them. I was really impressed ? they look like a team that could be dangerous.”
With the loss, USA (23-26, 11-15 SBC) was swept in a home conference series for the first time since losing all three to Jacksonville in 1994. FIU (33-19, 17-10 SBC) won the game despite committing five errors and leaving 16 runners on base.
The Golden Panthers got the scoring started when Lammar Guy doubled in the third and came around to score on Junior Arrojo’s groundout. USA quickly answered, taking its only lead of the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth.
David Doss and Jake Overstreet started the inning with singles, and Derek O'Reilly reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners. A successful double steal tied the game at 1-1 before Nathaniel Lami delivered a RBI double to give the Jags a 2-1 lead.
Doss stole home for the second time this season on the back end of a double steal. He finished the game 2-for-5 with two runs and a RBI, and Overstreet scored a pair of runs and went 4-for-5, giving him an 8-for-11 weekend.
The Jags added an insurance run in the fifth with three consecutive bunts. Brandon Brown led off with a bunt single to first and advanced to second on a throwing error. Clint Reynolds followed with another bunt single to put runners on the corners with no outs.
Adam Heisler laid down a successful squeeze bunt to put the Jags on top 3-1, and Reynolds stole third with just one out in the inning, but FIU starter Corey Polizzano escaped the jam with a strikeout and a flyout.
Steven Stropp and Tim Jobe led off the next half inning with consecutive doubles, and Mike Martinez walked to load the bases. One out later, Guy again gave his team the lead when he hit an 0-2 offering from Brandon Sage over the left-field fence for a Grand Slam and a 5-3 FIU lead.
USA cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the sixth when Overstreet doubled and came home to score on an error after Jobe tried to throw him out advancing to third on a groundout.
FIU rebuilt its lead to three with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh when Arrojo hit a two-run double with the bases loaded against Jag reliever D.D. Hanks, but USA plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 7-7.
Heisler walked leading off the inning, chasing Polizzano from the game. One out later, Doss brought him home with a double, then Overstreet and O’Reilly hit back-to-back singles. Doss scored from third and Overstreet advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt to set up O’Reilly’s game-tying RBI single.
Eric Berkowitz (2-1) came on with the potential go-ahead run at first and sandwiched a walk with two groundouts to escape the inning with the score still tied 7-7. He worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory.
Greg Johnson (4-5) was saddled with the loss after allowing one run in 1.2 innings. He got two quick outs in the eighth before Martinez reached on a seeing-eye single to set up Alfonso’s game-winning double.
The Jags return to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday when they host Southern Miss at Stanky Field for their final nonconference game of the season. USA hosts Troy Thursday through Saturday in the final Sun Belt Conference series of the year.
Notes: David Doss and Jake Overstreet each extended their hitting streak to seven games, and Adam Heisler extended his hitting streak to six straight ... Doss has reached base safely in a career-best 22 straight games, while Heisler (17 games) and Clint Reynolds (15 games) each set new career-long on-base streaks ... The Jags extended their streak of games with at least 10 hits to seven straight and 15 of the last 16.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
