Nathan Burns single to right field scored Julius Gaines and Oscar Aguirre to break a 4-4 tie in the sixth, and RBI singles by Aguirre, Burns and Tyler Hibbert in the seventh sent the Panthers to a 10-4 win against Stony Brook in their season opener.
Ty Sullivan, who pitched four innings in relief of starter Michael Ellis, got the win. Half of Sullivan's six strikeouts came in the top of the seventh, when he sent Stony Brook side down on 10 pitches. Zach Sweety went two for three as did Gaines. Burns knocked in four runs.
In Game 2, a T.J. Shantz sacrifice fly drove in the first run of the game in the bottom of the 7th, then an eighth inning Burns single and Josh Anderson triple gave Mike Gomez a buffer zone for the ninth inning. After walking leadoff hitter Brett Tenuto, Gomez sent down the next three batters to preserve Mitchell Davis' win in the junior college tranfer's first FIU appearance.
The left field lights remained off the entire second game, but didn't become an issue.
The final game of the series starts at 1 p.m. Sunday.
