MIAMI (Interstat) — Ryan Rushing pitched three scoreless innings of relief, striking out five without allowing a hit, and the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles held off a furious ninth-inning rally to defeat the Florida International Golden Panthers 9-8 on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at FIU Baseball Stadium.

Rushing entered the game in the fourth inning with the Eagles leading 9-5 and retired all nine batters he faced, striking out the side in the fourth and sixth innings while working around a two-out single in the fifth. His performance stabilized a game that had already seen seven runs scored in the opening frame.

Florida Gulf Coast scored three runs in the top of the first inning. Evan Dempsey singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Jaret Nelson. Cayden Hessemyer singled later in the inning, but Nelson was thrown out at home to end the rally.

Florida International answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Samuel Fischer walked, Cooper Rasmussen walked, and Andrew Ildefonso launched a three-run home run to left-center field to tie the game at 3-3.

The Eagles reclaimed the lead in the second inning. Jeremy Comer singled, Cole Lasher singled, and Nathan Gagnon singled to load the bases. Juan Santos grounded into a double play, but Comer scored on the play. Dempsey then hit a two-run home run to left-center field, putting Florida Gulf Coast ahead 6-3.

Florida International cut the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the second. Marc Hersh singled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI single by Fischer. The Golden Panthers added an unearned run in the third inning when Ildefonso scored on a failed pickoff attempt by the pitcher, making the score 6-5.

The Eagles extended their lead in the fourth inning when Gagnon led off with a solo home run to right field, making it 7-5. In the fifth inning, Hessemyer singled, stole second, and advanced to third on an error by the pitcher. Comer walked and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Lasher, making the score 8-5. In the sixth, Dempsey walked, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wilfred Gonzalez to give the Eagles a 9-5 lead.

Florida Gulf Coast added a run in the seventh inning when Comer hit a solo home run to left field, his second of the game, to make the score 9-5.

The game appeared decided entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Florida International had only managed one hit since the third inning, and Rushing had been followed by Hyatt Richardson, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and Elliot Cadieux-Lano, who pitched a scoreless eighth.

But the Golden Panthers mounted a dramatic rally in the ninth against Eagles closer Sebastian Lippman. Cole Cleveland led off with a double to right-center field. After a passed ball moved Cleveland to third, Hector Candelas flied out, and Caden Sammler fouled out. With two outs and Cleveland still at third, Trey Freeman pinch-hit and walked. Fischer then hit a three-run home run to center field, scoring Freeman and Cleveland and cutting the deficit to 9-8. But the rally fell short when Cooper Rasmussen grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

Fischer finished 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Florida International. Ildefonso also went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Dempsey went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Florida Gulf Coast, and Comer went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.

Florida Gulf Coast outhit Florida International 12-7 and made two sacrifice flies. The Eagles improved to 30-17 overall, while the Golden Panthers dropped to 15-33.

The most important part of the game occurred in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Florida International scored three runs on Fischer’s home run with two outs to pull within one run. The rally nearly erased a four-run deficit and gave the Golden Panthers a chance to tie or win, but the Eagles held on for the victory.

Rushing earned the win in relief, improving his record in his previous outing, a loss to Florida Atlantic on April 28, where he pitched 1.1 innings allowing one hit and no earned runs while striking out one.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a 7-5 final score in favor of Florida Gulf Coast, and Interstat’s ELO system gave the Eagles a 63.50 percent probability of winning.