MIAMI, FL – FIU continued to take care of business with its fourth consecutive tournament series win. They dominated heavily in walk-off fashion throughout the weekend.
With the Panthers’ sweep in both doubleheader games at the FIU Classic, they are 14-1 at home and 17-3 overall on the season. Now, the Panthers will turn the page to a Conference USA-heavy schedule.
Friday Afternoon Walk-Off Over Harvard
The Panthers started the FIU Classic with a bang, walking it off twice against Harvard and Fordham.
FIU got off to a 5-1 lead against the Crimson in the first inning thanks to some extra-base hitting. Kennedy Byrd opened the scoring with an RBI double to tie the game at one. Then, with two outs, FIU put up three consecutive hits. Janelle Martinez doubled to bring Byrd home, and Paige Miller followed up with a base hit. Isabella Perez closed the scoring with a three-run blast to put the Panthers ahead by four.
IT IS HIGH. IT IS FAR. IT ISSSS GONE. BELLA 💣 pic.twitter.com/KiK4ptFYVr
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 27, 2026
Harvard came back, though, with runs in the second and third innings to tie the game at five. Byrd was pulled in the third inning and was substituted by Megan Villazon. She stopped them from doing too much, allowing them to score just once while striking out seven in five innings.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Panthers were able to get one more run. Kally Meredith reached base on a single, then she stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Next up, Daley Alsobrook brought her home with a chopper in the infield, securing the 6-5 win.
WALK US OFF DALEY‼️ pic.twitter.com/xReu8Zvuce
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 27, 2026
FIU totaled nine hits in the game, with Meredith leading the way with a third of those. They left just three runners on base.
all the highlights from a walk-off dub 📽️ pic.twitter.com/WNVg7Aj3yy
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 27, 2026
Friday Night Lights Against Fordham
J’dah Girigorie got the ball to start against the Rams Friday evening. At the top of the inning, she recorded two swinging strikeouts, setting FIU up with a great opportunity to jump-start the game with a lead.
The Panthers wasted no time on offense. Leah Clark got an RBI single and then scored at the plate on a passed ball to put her team ahead 2-0. Girigorie struck out two more hitters in the second, and then Byrd smashed a three-run homer in the frame to put FIU up 5-0.
ROO WITH HER FIFTH HOMER OF THE SEASON
we lead, 5-0 pic.twitter.com/3F0Gsn8RyO
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 27, 2026
Kendall Catherwood provided the Panthers with another run in the third with a sacrifice fly, bringing in Miller. Fordham got a run back in the fifth, but Girigorie kept putting them away. She struck out nine hitters in five innings.
FIU ended the game via run-rule victory with three runs in the fifth. Chloe Bedwell hit a bunt single to begin the inning, and Kaleena Downing drew a walk. Perez hit a deep fly ball for a sac fly, scoring Bedwell. After Grace Helbling walked, Downing scored on a wild pitch. Following a pair of hits, Zamya McBurrows put the ball in play with an out to score Helbling and win the game 9-1.
ZAMYA WALKS US OFF!!! pic.twitter.com/1oehRoaizD
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 28, 2026
Meredith had a pair of hits, and Clark had two hits along with a stolen base. She is perfect, with 11 stolen bases in 11 attempts this season.
Game One Comeback vs. South Dakota
After 1.5 innings of play, the Panthers were down in a 5-1 hole. Making matters worse, the game entered a lightning delay, which lasted two hours and two minutes.
KALLY LAYS OUT FOR IT‼️#SCTop10 📺 pic.twitter.com/0WvroqvtSy
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 28, 2026
When the game resumed, FIU responded with three runs in the second. Riley Silvers had a two-run single, and Zamya McBurrows made it a 5-4 game with an RBI single.
In the top of the third, the Coyotes went on to tally more runs on the board to make it a 10-4 game. Catherwood drove in a run with a hit in the inning, making it a 10-5 contest.
Villazon came in to control the game from the circle in the fourth, and she was able to do so in her three innings pitched. Down by five runs in the fifth inning, FIU exploded on offense to score nine runs. Their RBIs came from Silvers (twice), Catherwood (twice), McBurrows, Byrd, and Martinez.
In an unexpected turnaround of being up 13-10, the Panthers went on another hitting streak in the sixth, putting up four additional runs. Their contributions from McBurrows, Martinez, and Miller put the game to rest in an 18-10 run-rule victory.
RUN KALLY RUN‼️ pic.twitter.com/751mgwfP3D
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) February 28, 2026
McBurrows had four hits in five ABs and four RBI. Martinez wasn’t far behind with a 4/5 performance and three RBI. With the start behind the plate, Silvers had two hits and a season-high of five RBI.
highlights from 14 UNANSWERED RUNS vs. USD 📹 pic.twitter.com/biHxZA9TVZ
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) March 1, 2026
Game Two Clash Over South Dakota
Byrd started the game in the circle in the evening contest against South Dakota and was the most efficient player for FIU on both sides of the ball. She hit a solo home run in the first inning to put her team up 1-0.
Roo got us on the board with her fifth HR of the year 😤 pic.twitter.com/kuhckDuysi
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) March 1, 2026
After the Coyotes scored in the third, FIU went back to work in the bottom of the frame and in the fourth with RBI groundouts from Martinez and Catherwood, respectively. The Panthers added another insurance run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from Perez.
Kennedy Byrd earned her sixth victory of the season after throwing a full seven-inning game, allowing four hits and a run on nine strikeouts in 91 pitches.
Sunday Game Canceled
Sunday morning’s game against Fordham got canceled due to a lightning delay and them having a cut off time for traveling back home.
🚨Today's @FIUAthletics contest with Fordham is officially CANCELED due to weather 🚨
— FIU Softball (@FIUSoftball) March 1, 2026
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