FIU baseball advances to Conference USA championship game

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17 

The Panthers came in to Conference USA Championship earlier this week as the eighth and final team to earn a spot in the tournament.

Now they are one of the final teams still standing and one win away from an improbable conference championship.

Panthers third baseman Josh Anderson hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, to lift FIU baseball to a 15-3 victory over Middle Tennessee in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship game.

FIU becomes the first No. 8 seed to ever make it to the Conference USA championship game and will face the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday, May 24 at 1 p.m. EST. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

“It’s been a great experience and everything is coming together for us at the right time,” Anderson said in a telephone interview after the game. “But we’re not finished yet. We came here to win a championship.”

Anderson led off the top of the second with a solo home run to give the Panthers a 1-0 edge over the Blue Raiders early on. In the third inning, FIU broke the game wide open with right fielder Austin Rodriguez belting a grand slam as part of a seven-run frame to take a comfortable 8-0 lead.

With an 11-2 lead and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Anderson struck again with a grand slam of his own to put an exclamation point on the Panthers’ high-powered offensive performance.

“He’s been trying to find his swing for most of the season and he’s found it pretty good right now,” Head Coach Turtle Thomas said of Anderson’s performance.

The Blue Raiders tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the game was halted early thanks to the C-USA tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.

On the mound, FIU starter Cody Crouse struck out seven batters in six innings pitched to earn the winning decision.

The Panthers’ tournament magic began May 20, when FIU stunned No. 1 seed and conference powerhouse Rice with a 6-5 win to enter the winner’s bracket side of the tournament.

On May 21, the Panthers defeated UTSA in a 15-5 rout to earn a day off on Friday and set up their victory Saturday afternoon against MTSU.

For more information on the Conference USA baseball championship tournament, click here.