MIAMI, Fla. – Four runs by FIU in the final two innings spoiled the University of Pennsylvania baseball team's Sunday in Miami as the Panthers stole a 6-5 victory on a walk-off RBI single. The loss gave Penn a four-game series split with FIU and moved the Quakers to 3-4 through the first two weekends of the season.
 
NOTES
*Four Penn players tallied multiple hits: Josh Hood (2), Craig Larsen (3), Eduardo Malinowski (3), and Peter Matt (2).
 
* Matt went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI to cap off an incredible four-game set against FIU. On the weekend, he went 11-for-17 with eight RBI and seven runs scored. In the field, Matt posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and added an outfield assist. He now leads the Quakers with a .516 batting average.
 
*Hood had a tidy day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
 
*For the third time this season, Penn left double-digit runners on base. The Quakers left ten stranded today.
 
*Joe Miller made his second start of the season today. He tossed five innings, four of them scoreless, with four Ks and no earned runs allowed.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Some troublesome fielding in the bottom of the first allowed FIU to take an early advantage. A leadoff walk and a throwing error put a pair of runners on base, then a squeeze bunt advanced them both into scoring position. A bloop single plated them both to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
 
A couple scoreless innings passed before the Quakers' bats put them back on track. Penn loaded the bags after a pair of singles and an error, then Matt continued his excellent weekend at the plate with a two-run single to tie the game. A failed double steal eliminated one of Penn's two baserunners, but Hood cleaned up the issue with an RBI single to fire the Red & Blue in front.
 
Back in his hometown, Hernandez closed out the inning with an RBI single to plate Penn's fourth run of the frame and give the Quakers a 4-2 lead.
 
Penn added another in the sixth. Once again, Matt made his way onto the basepath with a single, and advanced to second with a steal. Hood plated him with his second RBI single of the day to extend the Quakers' lead to 5-2.
 
Unfortunately, the hosts would storm back in the final two frames, starting with three runs plated in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game.
 
Penn threatened in the top of the ninth, as Malinowski led off with a single and was pushed to second on a sac bunt. However, back-to-back strikeouts stymied the threat.
 
Fueled by the energy from its momentum-swinging eighth inning, FIU quickly piled on pressure in the final frame. With one out, a single and a batter hit by pitch put a pair on base. Reliever John Alan Kendrick struck out his next batter to alleviate the pressure, but a single to shallow right field ended the series with heartbreak. Matt tossed a dart to home plate for the inning's final out, but his throw was beaten by the runner as the hosts stole a 6-5 win.
 
UP NEXT
Penn continues its swing in the Sunshine State on Tuesday, with a two-game series against FAU on deck.