MIAMI -  The Holy Cross baseball team was downed twice Saturday at FIU falling 6-5 in 12 innings during game one and 14-10 during game two at the FIU Baseball Stadium.

The losses were the fifth and sixth of the year for Holy Cross while the host Panthers improve to 6-1 in the early going.

GAME ONE: FIU 6, HOLY CROSS 5 – 12 INN.

STARTING ON THE MOUND:

• George Adams: (ND), 4.0 innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run, one walk, three strikeouts
• Sophomore Pedro Leon: (ND), 4.0 innings pitched, two hits allowed, one run – zero earned, zero walks five strikeouts

OUT OF THE BULLPEN:

• Enrique Sierra (W, 2-0), 2.0 innings pitched, zero hits allowed, zero earned runs, one walk, one strikeout
• Sophomore Marco Citro: 2.0 innings pitched, zero hits allowed, zero earned runs, one walk, two strikeouts
• Freshman Jack Reyes: (L, 0-1), 0.0 innings pitched one hit allowed, one run allowed

STEPPING TO THE PLATE:

• Junior Gianni Royer: 3-for-6, RBI, run scored, stolen base
• Junior Van Coughlin: 1-for-4, home run, two RBI, run scored
• Sophomore Simon Landry: 1-for-5, double,
• Senior CJ Egrie: 1-for-5, run scored, walk, stolen base
• Junior Braden Connors: 1-for-4, double, RBI, walk
• Freshman Cayden Van Dolah: 1-for-5, RBI, walk
• Samuel Fischer: 2-for-5, home run, RBI, run scored
• Mario Trivella: 1-for-3, home run, RBI, run scored

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Egrie singled on the first pitch he saw and immediately took second base after two picks over. With one out, Royer legged out an infield single to put runners at the corners with one down. The Crusaders could not capitalize as the runners were stranded.
• A double and followed by a single and an error brought home the opening run of the contest as FIU led 1-0 in the second. Leon struck out the batter and Coughlin threw out the runner attempting to steal to conclude the frame.
• Coughlin hit his second homer of the season, 388 feet to left center to level the score 1-1 in the top of the fourth.
• In the fifth, Egrie walked and came around to score on Connors RBI double for the 2-1 Holy Cross advantage.
• A two out RBI double from FIU with an RBI single in the sixth pushed FIU into the lead at 3-2.
• A solo homer to lead off the seventh added insurance for the 4-2 Panther advantage.
• In the eighth, a walk to junior left fielder John LaFleur and a hit-by-pitch worn by Coughlin put runners at first and second with no outs. Van Dolah singled for his first collegiate hit which brought home a run that brough the Crusaders within one, 4-3. Following a sacrifice bunt to push the runners up to second and third with one down, FIU struck out the next two batters to end the scoring threat,
• Holy Cross scored a pair in the ninth as Royer had a hand in both runs pulling an RBI double down the left field line and scoring on a sacrifice fly just beyond second base for the 5-4 lead.
• FIU tied the game in the ninth and the contest headed to extra innings. A walk-off homer in the 12th completed the comeback win for the Panthers

GAME TWO: FIU 14, HOLY CROSS 10

STARTING ON THE MOUND:

• Sophomore Derek Volz: (ND), 3.1 innings pitched, three hits allowed, six earned runs, five walks, five strikeouts  
• Jarek Woodward: (ND), 3.0 innings pitched, six hits allowed, five earned runs, one walk, one strikeout

OUT OF THE BULLPEN:

• Tyler Mecchella: (W, 1-0),  2.0 innings pitched, one hit allowed, zero earned runs, one walk, three strikeouts
• Sophomore Aidan Gilbert: 2.2 innings pitched, zero hits allowed, zero earned runs, one walk, one strikeout
• Junior Dan Mateffy: (L, 0-1), 0.1 innings pitched, three hits allowed, five earned runs, one walk, one strikeout

STEPPING TO THE PLATE:

• Junior Alex Sandell:  3-for-5, two doubles, two RBI, two runs scored
• LaFleur: 3-for-5, double, run scored
• Landry: 2-for-5, double, two runs scored, stolen base
• Egrie: 1-for-3, two RBI, two runs scored, walk
• Connors: 1-for-4, two RBI, walk
• Luca Reyes: 2-for-3, two home runs, eight RBI, two runs scored, walk.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Volz struck out a pair looking in the first inning.
• Holy Cross got an RBI groundout from freshman Liam Daly and an RBI double chopped down the left field line from Sandell, an RBI single from Egrie and a bases clearing two RBI single from Connors for the 5-0 Crusader lead after the top of the second.
• FIU walloped a three-run shot in the bottom of the third to pull within two, 5-3.
• The Crusaders gained those three runs back in the top of the fourth as Egrie bunted home a run via a fielder's choice and Royer brought in a pair singling up the middle for the 8-3 advantage.
• An RBI groundout and a pair of hit-by-pitches countered those three runs as the hosts trailed 8-6 after four.
• Holy Cross added two more runs in the seventh, one via a Sandell RBI double the opposite way and another following junior Colin Brown's groundout for the 10-6 lead.
• A solo shot from FIU in the seventh made it 10-7. They rallied in the ninth for seven runs to clinch the victory.

DUE UP:

• Holy Cross wraps up the series against FIU on Sunday, Feb 22 with junior Thomas Skrobe taking the hill.
• First pitch is slated for noon.

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