Panthers Walks-Off Twice in Doubleheader Against Holy Cross

MIAMI, FL – In their first and only doubleheader of the season, the Panthers played two competitive games against the Holy Cross Crusaders. During the afternoon contest, FIU forced the game into extra innings where Mario Trivella hit a walk-off home run to win the game 6-5.

In the evening game, all tied up in the ninth inning, Luca Reyes smashed a walk-off grand slam to finish the night off with a 14-10 win. The Panthers are off to a 6-1 start after walking it off twice on home runs in their doubleheader today against Holy Cross.

Game One of Doubleheader

FIU got the ball rolling in the bottom half of the second inning. Aidan Cohall doubled, his fourth of the season. Samuel Fischer then picked up where he left off yesterday with an RBI single to put the Panthers up 1-0.

George Adams delivered a quality outing. His only flaw was giving up a solo home run to Van Coughlin in the fourth inning. Adams allowed three hits, a run, and a walk in four innings. He struck out six hitters.

Julian Mlodzinski came in relief in the fifth. Although he did run into a jam in the inning, allowing a run, he was able to complete three innings without a hassle. His performance was capped off by a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. The senior surrendered three hits and recorded four strikeouts.

FIU’s offense was quiet for three innings, but they came back to life in the sixth as they were down 2-1. Following a single from Andrew Ildefonso, Cole Cleveland knocked him in with a double. Luca Reyes then came up and hit an RBI single, advancing to second after an infield error.

Cleveland ROCKED that into the gap 🤘

B6 | Holy Cross 2, FIU 2 pic.twitter.com/I7aufxNPae

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 21, 2026

In the seventh inning, Fischer hit a solo home run, his second in consecutive games. FIU had its largest lead, 4-2.

SAMMY HOW DO YOU DO 😱

Second straight game with a HR! pic.twitter.com/41JpPa0d8h

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 21, 2026

In the ninth inning, he issued another run and more opportunities for Holy Cross to get extra bases. Cameron ended up getting pulled, and Quin McManmon came in. Holy Cross eventually drove in another run on a sacrifice fly.

Down by one with runners at the corners, Marc Hersh delivered with the run the Panthers needed back. He hit a chopper past third base, reaching left field. With two runners on base and one out, FIU had its chance to put the game away but wasn’t able to.

Mario Trivella Walk-Off Dinger

Both programs were quiet on offense from the 10th until the top half of the 12th. Mario Trivella stepped up to the batter’s box, and in no time, he hit a long fly ball to left that kept going and going until the defender could no longer go back. It was gone to secure a walk-off victory for the Panthers.

SEND US HOME 😱 pic.twitter.com/0ISN9z1A4e

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 21, 2026

Enrique Sierra picked up the win in the effort. He pitched two stellar innings in extras, not surrendering any hits.

Game Two of Doubleheader

FIU’s pitchers got rocked from the early parts of the game. The Crusaders exploded on offense in the second, piling on five runs and five hits. Jarek Woodward got the ball to start the game, but he was unable to catch a break that inning.

He did have a quick 1-2-3 innings in the first and third, but damage was done in that middle inning. Woodward tossed three innings, allowing six hits and five runs.

The Panthers were able to get three runs back in the third inning. Caden Sammler walked and Fischer singles, setting the stage for Luca Reyes to make a statement at the plate. He did just that, smashing a towering home run to right field to cut the deficit down to 5-3.

https://twitter.com/FIUBaseball/status/2025373048283550150?s=20

Again, the Crusaders’ bats would not back down. They added an additional three runs in the fourth, making it an 8-3 contest. Cooper Foster allowed two hits, three earned runs, and two walks while striking out two in his one-inning appearance.

In the bottom half of the frame, FIU picked up where they left off and scored three additional runs. Hector Candelas was hit by a pitch, and Adonys Velez advanced him to third after singling and advancing to second himself via a fielding error. Enrique Velez Jr. drove in his first run of the season on an unassisted groundout.

After consecutive walks to Sammler and Fischer, the bases were loaded. FIU then scored two runs after back-to-back hit by pitches to Ildefonso and Reyes, minimizing the Holy Cross lead to 8-6.

Brennan Confreda tossed two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, giving up just a hit on 13 pitches. Despite allowing a pair of runs and hits in the seventh, Taggart Cameron was able to post two strikeouts in his Panther debut.

Tag with a pair of punchies in his first career appearance 🥺

📺 https://t.co/oqtTtOEXhg pic.twitter.com/TAaC5eGeGp

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 22, 2026

FIU got a run back in the bottom of the seventh as Cooper Rasmussen came in to pinch hit. He’s been off to a slow start, but his solo home run added a big boost to the stat column.

First one of the year for COOP 🚀 pic.twitter.com/zonVABa2pf

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 22, 2026

Luca Reyes Blasts Grand Slam

FIU’s wild ninth inning began with Trivella getting a base hit. Then, Candelas got hit by a pitch, and it was followed up by Rasmussen hitting a single to load the bases with no outs.

Moments later, after an umpire’s discussion, Boston Doeschot was awarded the catcher’s interference call to give the Panthers a run. Fischer drew a walk afterwards, tallying another run. Up next, Ildefonso hit an infield to tie the game up at 10.

With one out and the bases loaded, FIU got exactly who they needed in the batter’s box. As their hitters had been doing throughout the inning, Reyes stood there and waited for his pitch. When that pitch came, he reached back and swung at the perfect time. His hand-eye coordination was seamless as that ball traveled high and away over the right field fence for the walk-off grand slam. Reyes went 2/3 with two home runs, 8 RBI, two runs scored, and two hit by pitches.

WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM!
Holy Cross 10 | FIU 14

Luca Reyes hits a towering grand slam to end this game #FIU | #Panthers | #PawsUp pic.twitter.com/cHmELO1i1O

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) February 22, 2026

About Post Author

Ricardo Urrusuno

He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.

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