Panthers Swept By Dallas Baptist, CUSA Record Falls Under .500

Following the high of sweeping the ranked Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, the FIU Panthers experienced the lowest of lows, being swept by Dallas Baptist with a pair of losses (8-0, 9-3) to end the series.

The Panthers were swept by the Patriots last season, including a loss in the CUSA Tournament. A big achievement this season for FIU would have been to take a game from DBU. The Patriots have dominated Conference USA since joining in 2023 and winning the title last season.

Saturday’s game was an absolute blowout, there’s no way around it. DBU scored seven runs over the first three innings to take a dominant lead. FIU only registered five hits. Dallas Baptist’s eighth run came in the eighth inning thanks to a walk with the bases loaded.

Owen Puk suffered his first loss of the season for the Panthers. He gave up four earned runs in 1.2 innings of work. The only batter who had a solid game for FIU was Javier Crespo, who recorded two hits.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

We saw some runs for the Panthers in the Sunday finale. FIU held a 3-0 lead through the first two innings. However, DBU rallied back and tied the game in the fifth inning. They then took the lead in the eighth with four more runs.

Brylan West started the scoring for FIU with an RBI single. It was followed by the sixth home run of the season for Andrew Indefonso to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. In the second inning, Brendan Roney cashed in with a rome run of his own to extend FIU’s lead.

This is where the positives ended, sadly. Dallas Baptist responded with a two-run single in the bottom of the second, then took the lead in the third inning with an RBI double and single. DBU added another run in the fifth and dropped four runs in the eighth to take the lead and complete the sweep.

With the pair of losses, FIU drops its overall record to 26-22 and CUSA record to 9-11. They’ll head to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday, May 7th. It’s the final midweek matchup of the season for the Panthers and the series finale against the Canes.