MIAMI, FL – It took a while, but FIU secured its first CUSA series win of the season. Cooper Rasmussen delivered for the Panthers in their 4-3 victory over Kennesaw State with a walk-off homer. The win marked FIU’s fifth walk-off home run and sixth walk-off win overall on the season.
FIU Breaks Through with 3-0 Lead
The first half of the game was pretty smooth sailing for FIU. In the second, they scored twice on an RBI single from Caden Sammler to go up by two. Sammler recorded his seventh RBI on the hit.
Caden drives in two for the EARLY LEAD ✌️@CadenSammler pic.twitter.com/YeN0QHQ5tR
— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) April 11, 2026
Enrique Alvarez Jr. provided the Panthers with another run in the fourth when he hit his first home run in 2026, making it 3-0.
a ROCKET SHOT @ealvarezjr06 🚀
his first of the season extends the lead! pic.twitter.com/6shk6mATG0
— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) April 11, 2026
Owls Tie Things Up
Enrique Sierra made his second consecutive start. He was solid until the fifth when he had runners on the corners. Sierra lasted 4.1 innings, allowing a run on six hits along with two walks and four punchouts. By this point in the game, he had reached 93 as his total pitch count.
Cooper Foster came in relief, and he allowed two runs in the sixth, which tied the game at three apiece. He still held his own in his 12th bullpen appearance, going 1.1 innings and allowing just a pair of hits.
Jordan Vargas had 2.1 innings of scoreless work, surrendering five hits on three strikeouts. George Adams had a scoreless ninth and earned his first win of the season.
Defense has not treated this team kindly this season. The Panthers committed three errors, and two of them were ironically caused by Rasmussen, contributing to runs for the Owls.
On the flipside, FIU did escape from some late-game jams and garnered two double plays on the diamond.
turned the 6⃣-4⃣-3⃣ to escape the jam! pic.twitter.com/89iWah5GEg
— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) April 11, 2026
Cooper Rasmussen Walks it Off
With two run-causing errors on his back, Rasmussen had to make amends in a hurry. In the bottom of the ninth and one out on the scoreboard in a tied game, he battled through a full count. Then, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, he hit the ball over the fence for his ninth home run of the season in walk-off fashion.
COOP CALLS GAME! ANOTHER WALK-OFF HOMER 😱 pic.twitter.com/WLUOfScIhA
— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) April 12, 2026
FIU got nine hits in the game, with Sammler and Alvarez Jr. each posting multi-hit games. Cole Cleveland and Samuel Fischer got on base twice. Rasmussen extended his on-base streak to 20 games. Andrew Ildefonso extended his hit streak to seven games.
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