Eastern Illinois dropped its first two games on Friday at the FIU Softball Classic in Miami, Fla.  In the opener Saint Francis (Pa.) rallied to beat EIU 6-5 before the Panthers lost to host FIU 6-0 in the second game of the day.
 
SAINT FRANCIS 6, EIU 5
Eastern Illinois built a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Panthers were unable to hold off a late Saint Francis rally falling 6-5 in the opener.
 
EIU scored twice in the opening inning with Alisha Frederick coming around to score an unearned run and Karson Davey scoring on an RBI single by Abbey Crain.  SFU answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first.
 
EIU tacked on two more in the fourth as Crain and Abbi Hatton reached on back-to-back singles to open the inning.  Sophie Cerveny drove in one run with a ground out while Kira Manganello delivered the other with a sacrifice fly.
 
Crain drove in the Panthers final run in the fifth scoring Frederick for her second run of the game.  Crain was the lone Panther with multiple hits going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
 
SFU rallied to tie the game in the fifth chasing EIU starter Karlie Mckenzie after the first four batters in the inning reached base.  SFU would score two of the four runs in the inning unearned following an EIU error.  Aliya Garroway and Olivia Ulam drove in runs in the inning for the Red Flash.  They were two of three SFU players to finish with two hits.
 
In the sixth Hannah Bendle drew a walk to start the inning and scored on an RBI single by Garroway up the middle.  
 
Bryanna French (1-3) took the loss for EIU.  Addison Deal (2-0) picked up the win in relief for SFU as they improved to 7-7 on the year.
 
FIU 6, EIU 0
In the second game of the day Florida International scored four of its six runs unearned beating Eastern Illinois, 6-0.   FIU improved to 10-7 on the year while EIU dropped to 6-11.
 
FIU scored an unearned run in the first against EIU starter McKenzie Oslanzi (3-6).
 
In the second Paige Miller drove in the first of two FIU runs in the inning.  She finished the day 2-for-2 with two RBI, one of two FIU players with two hits.    Isabella Perez who was the other FIU player with two hits scored on Miller's single to the left side.
 
FIU's final runs came in the sixth scoring two more unearned runs.  Miller drove in one of the three in the inning.
 
Eastern Illinois generated five hits against FIU starter Kennedy Byrd (4-5). 
 
The Panthers best offensive threat was in the fifth inning when Jenna Teakert and Morgan Hance had back-to-back one out singles.  Kendall Grover loaded the bases with a third straight single.   FIU coaxed two infield ground balls to end the threat. 
 
Briana Gonzalez and Abbey Crain added the other EIU hits.