HATTIESBURG, Miss. — It was a 6-6 game, top of the eighth and the Herd had seen an early 5-0 lead slip away against the No. 7-seeded FIU. Marshall, the two-seed in the tournament, had beaten the Panthers on Wednesday, and had seen FIU score two in the bottom of the fourth and then, the big blow, a three-run home run by Austin Rodriguez to score Irving Lopez and Nick Day and tie the game up.
With one out, senior left fielder Robert Fajardo came to bat, 1-for-3 on the day and needed to find a way to get on.