Florida International Rallies Past ORU, 10-9

MIAMI, Fla.-Lammar Guy singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to help Florida International to a 10-9 win over Oral Roberts, Saturday at FIU Baseball Stadium.

ORU (0-2) couldn’t hold a 7-1 lead as the Golden Panthers (5-0) scored nine of their 10 runs in the final three innings.

Colby Price (Brenham, Texas) got ORU on the board in the top of the second with a three-run home run. Tyler Saladino (San Diego, Calif.) made it 4-0 with a solo home run in the top of the third.

After Florida International scored a run in the bottom of the third to make it 4-1, ORU responded with two runs in the top of the fifth. The first run scored via an error by the left fielder and Chris Elder (Suisun City, Calif.) followed with a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead.

Elder plated another run with an RBI ground out in the top of the seventh, giving the Golden Eagles a 7-1 lead.

But FIU battled back against ORU starter Jeff Burleson (Bakersfield, Calif.), scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh to chase Burleson from the game. The big blow was a two-run double by Raiko Alfonso, which cut ORU’s lead to 7-5.

The Golden Panthers scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth against relievers Bryce Smolen (Houston, Texas) and Spencer Roberts (Littleton, Colo.). A three-run homer by pinch-hitter Rudy Flores gave FIU an 8-7 lead. Another run scored on a throwing error as FIU went up 9-7.

ORU rallied in the top of the ninth thanks to poor defense and pitching by the Golden Panthers. Pinch runner Nikko Wong (Cedar Grove, N.J.) scored on a fielding error with one out and Jared Schlehuber (Aurora, Colo.) drove in the tying run with a bases-loaded walk three batters later.

In the bottom of the inning Roberts (0-1) retired the first two batters before allowing a double, a stolen base and the game-winning hit by Guy.

The Golden Eagles banged out 11 hits. P.J. Sequeira (Petaluma, Calif.) led the way with four hits and three runs, while Price finished with three hits.