MIAMI – For the second consecutive night, the FIU baseball team secured a walk-off victory in dramatic fashion, defeating Stonehill 6-5 on Saturday night at FIU Baseball Stadium.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Panthers loaded the bases with one out. A wild pitch allowed Adonys Velez to cross the plate, tying the game. Two batters later, with the bases still full, Hector Candelas was hit by a pitch, forcing in the game-winning run and sealing FIU's second straight walk-off win to open the season.

FIU (2-0) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, striking for three runs in the first inning. Senior Alex Ulloa roped a two-run double down the right field line, followed by a sacrifice fly from Rene Lastres to bring home Albert Serrano.

On the mound, senior Owen Puk delivered a stellar performance in his first start of 2025. He tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five, setting a career-high in innings pitched.

"It was his best start here at FIU," said FIU head coach Rich Witten "I told him that after he came out of the game. I'm proud of Owen and we get to see a lot throughout the off-season that maybe the casual fan doesn't get to see. Coach (Karsten) Whitson has done an unbelievable job working with Owen. Owen has done an unbelievable job buying into the things we want to work on and where his improvements needed to be."

Stonehill (0-2) responded in the sixth, tying the game with a three-run homer off Aidan Cohall. FIU regained the lead in the eighth when Serrano lined a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Kishon Frett to make it 4-3.

In the ninth, with FIU just one strike away from victory, Stonehill fought back, plating two runs on a single through the left side to take a 5-4 advantage. However, the Panthers answered in the bottom half, rallying for the walk-off win.

FIU tallied 10 hits on the night, with three players recording multi-hit games. Ulloa finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs, while Lastres added two hits and an RBI. The Panthers continued to show patience at the plate, getting hit by six pitches—bringing their total to 12 over the first two games of the season.

Junior Juan Villarreal earned the win in relief, tossing the final four innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out seven.

UP NEXT
FIU looks to earn the series victory on Sunday, Feb. 16 with a 2 p.m. first pitch. It will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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Presented by Baptist Health, The Official Sports Medicine Provider of FIU Athletics

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