Boston Doeschot Walks Off to Give Panthers Series Win

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MIAMI, FL – Pitching had been the storyline for most of the game, with both teams having a limited amount of hits. FIU and Villanova traded runs in the fourth inning and again in the seventh until the Panthers took the lead.

Down to their last strike, the Wildcats were able to pull some late-game heroics and tie the game up. The Panthers, though, had more fight in them and were able to load the bases for Boston Doeschot, who walked off the game to give them the series win.

“We had a walk-off win, opening weekend on Sunday to win the series,” said Coach Rich Witten. “So, that’s definitely exciting, but there’s a lot of coaching points that have come up throughout this weekend that we’ve got to work to get better to improve.”

Panthers Respond to Villanova Runs

Every inning that the Wildcats scored, FIU would respond in the same inning.

The game passed by quickly in the first three innings. Jarek Woodward made the start and pitched three innings, surrendering just a hit and two walks while striking out four hitters. FIU’s hitters had only combined for two hits at the time.

Cooper Foster came in for the fourth inning, and he had trouble finding the strike zone in his inning of relief. After hitting a batter and issuing a walk, Aidan Barry delivered a big RBI for Villanova to get on the board.

Foster was saved from allowing another earned run thanks to Andrew Ildefonso fielding a base hit and utilizing his cannon of an arm to throw out a runner at home plate.

Ildy with the CANNON 💪 pic.twitter.com/FS1fYQnPYR

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 15, 2026

FIU Baseball then would go to work in the bottom of the fourth inning. Luca Reyes added another extra-base hit to his weekend with a double and went on to score after Aidan Cohall drove him in with a single.

After Foster walked the first two batters he faced in the top of the fifth inning, he was substituted by Quin McManmon. He delivered two straight 1-2-3 innings before giving up a home run in the seventh.

The Panthers went back to work on offense. Vicente Feliciano delivered a pinch-hit solo home run. Moments later, Cole Cleveland hit a sharp triple before scoring off a Reyes sac fly to give FIU the 3-2 lead.

ALL. TIED. UP. 😳 @Vicentef23_ with the solo shot! 💣 pic.twitter.com/pCp5OLNy5p

— FIU Baseball (@FIUBaseball) February 15, 2026

With two outs and a runner on third base, Villanova was able to squeak in the tying run due to an error by Samuel Fischer at third.

Bryce Turner came out of the bullpen to pitch the final three innings of shutout ball without allowing a hit while punching out two.

9th Inning Walk-Off

FIU again wasted no time in advancing runners when needed. Cleveland knocked down his first double of the season. After Reyes was intentionally walked, Cohall singled to load up the bases for Doeschot.

Boston Doeschot hit the ball far enough to where it needed to go. After hitting it towards deep center for a sacrifice fly, Cole Cleveland ran home to put this one away.

WALK-OFF!
Villanova 3 | FIU 4

Boston Doeschot with the walk-off sac fly to win the game and series#FIU | #Panthers | #PawsUp pic.twitter.com/7CEPvBamoT

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) February 15, 2026

For the second straight game, the Panthers put up 10 hits on the scoreboard. Today, they were led by a three-hit performance from Cohall. Cleveland led with two extra-base hits, a double and a triple. Reyes added a hit and an RBI to an impressive .400 average and a four-RBI start.

“Luca had some big knocks this weekend, said Coach Witten.” “A lot of good ABs, and just every game, every at bat he’s maturing as a hitter. I think there’s a great example when he had a chance to tie the game up. He went into a great approach when he got one strike to eat up the RBI so we could take the lead late.”

“He’s got a lot of power at the plate. He’s gonna be a threat as he continues to find his approach. He’s gonna be a weapon in the middle, but some really big hits today.”

“Feliciano comes in, ties it up late in the game. He came in as a defensive replacement and ends up tying it with the home run. Huge win and then Boston Doeschot comes in after watching the game for three hours…comes off the bench and hits the sac fly for a walk-off.”

“So, lot of great ABs today and a gusty performance. There’s some things we could get better at, but a lot of guts on opening weekend and come out with a series win.”

On Deck

The Panthers will now have their first piece of midweek action as they head up north on I-95 for a quick road trip to Daytona Beach. They will face the 2025 SWAC Champions, Bethune-Cookman, on Tuesday at 6 pm.

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