HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats fell behind early and could not fully recover in a 13-5 loss to FIU in the opener of the final series of 2025 on Thursday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
FIU (28-23, 11-13 CUSA) led off the game with a homer and scored five times in the first inning while never letting the Kats (12-41, 6-19 CUSA) any closer than three runs the rest of the way to secure the win.
The result eliminates the Bearkats from contention for the 2025 CUSA Tournament next week in Lynchburg, Va.
Ryan Franden hit his first home run of the season in the opening inning, a 2-run shot to cut the lead to 5-2, and finished the day 2-for-3 for his third multi-hit game in his last four outings. Blake Brown had two hits and an RBI, while Parker Blackman and Easton Dean each drove in runs as well.
The Kats trailed 7-2 after three innings before cutting it back to 7-4 on RBI singles by Brown and Dean in the sixth. But the Kats ultimately left nine runners on the bases in the final four frames while the Panthers answered with six runs.
Devin Bennett got the start and fell to 1-5 after allowing seven runs, four earned, in 3.0 innings. FIU reliever Jaydon Bishop earned the win with 4.1 innings of long relief of opener Easton Marks, his first victory of 2025.
UP NEXT
Sam Houston will continue its series vs FIU on Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
