Florida A&M University’s baseball team secured a 7-6 victory over Eastern Illinois on Saturday in Tallahassee, with Justin Lopez delivering a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The win evened Florida A&M’s record at 1-1 for the season.
Cody Williams was credited with the win after pitching two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing one run on one hit, striking out two batters and issuing no walks. Jackson McKenzie contributed three innings from the mound, giving up one run on two hits while striking out five.
The Rattlers fell behind early but responded in the second inning when Caden Kresak singled to drive in Ethan Miller and Will Brown, tying the game at 2-2. After Eastern Illinois regained the lead, Florida A&M scored three runs in the third inning to move ahead 5-4 and maintained that advantage until late in the game.
Florida A&M extended its lead to 6-4 in the sixth before Eastern Illinois tied it at six runs apiece. In their final at-bat, Lopez hit a solo home run with one out to end the game.
“Alex Monile compiled three hits in the game for Florida A&M,” according to team notes. “McKenzie struck out five Panthers hitters.” The Rattlers’ most productive frame came in the third inning when they scored three runs. They also outhit Eastern Illinois by a margin of 12 to 6 and hit three home runs during the contest.
Justen Crews led Florida A&M offensively by going two-for-four with a home run and an RBI. For Eastern Illinois, J. Love went three-for-four with two doubles, a home run, and four RBIs.
Florida A&M pitchers held Eastern Illinois hitters to just one hit in eleven opportunities with runners in scoring position and faced 33 opposing batters overall, recording eight strikeouts.
