MIAMI – Bethune-Cookman and FIU took part in the first of a home-and-home two-game, midweek series on Tuesday evening, with the visiting Wildcats falling to the Panthers, 3-1 at FIU Baseball Stadium. The two teams will meet for the second game on May 3 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach.
 
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the eighth inning, Bethune-Cookman (21-15) got itself into scoring position for the first time all night when redshirt junior designated hitter Michael Deeb picked up just the second hit of the night for the Maroon and Gold with a double. Chase DeBonis followed with a single to move Deeb up to third, allowing Kyle Corbin to plate the Notre Dame transfer on a sacrifice fly to left.
 
FIU (19-14) got on the board in the fourth inning when the homestanding Panthers finally got to senior left-hander Donté Lindsay on the mound.
 
Designated hitter Zack Soria worked his way aboard with a single, only to be brought in a batter later on the end of a Kenny Meimerstorf double for the game's opening score.
 
The lead doubled for the Panthers in the home-half of the sixth when Soria tallied his fifth home run of the year.
 
The lead stretched to 3-0 in favor of FIU the following inning as the Panthers used an Irving Lopez RBI single to drive across Kolby Follis. Pinch running at first base for Ricardo Pozo earlier in the Panthers at-bat when the right fielder reached on a throwing error charged to Demetrius Sims at shortstop, Follis was able to score the unearned run off the pitch from BCU reliever Alexis Herrera.
 
The win went to FIU's Robert Garcia (3-4) as he went the distance on the mound, tagged for just one run on four hits scattered. The right-hander walked one and struck out a career-best 14 batters.
 
Lindsay accepted the loss to lower his record at 1-6 for the year. The Cleveland native worked 5.1 innings on the bump for the Wildcats, allowing two runs on six hits, a walk and four strikeouts recorded. BCU junior lefty Joseph Calamita worked a scoreless eighth inning to close the game on the hill, striking out two Panthers in the process.
 
The Cats offense was aided by the play of four players with a hit apiece, including the double from Deeb – his second multi-base hit of the campaign.
 
Bethune-Cookman returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play on Friday, traveling to Florida A&M for a key league series. The series kicks off with a doubleheader on Friday, April 14, at 1 p.m.
 
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