Hurricanes Walk-Off Panthers, 4-3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Another game, another night filled with Mark Light Magic.

Last Saturday against then-No. 15 North Carolina, Dorian Gonzalez Jr. delivered a 401-foot walk-off homer in the ninth.

Tuesday night, the junior captain came through again. This time, it was just a few feet ahead of home plate.

Gonzalez Jr. pushed a bunt in front of the pitcher’s mound and sophomore Blake Cyr scampered home to vault the Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over crosstown foe FIU at Mark Light Field.

“It’s finding different ways to win every night and different guys are doing it,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “Ashton Crowther came out of the bullpen today and gave us a really strong outing. Crowther really picked up the slack.”

Miami’s dramatic victory marked its eighth comeback win in its first 20 games, as the Hurricanes (12-8) secured their third walk-off of the year.

“It’s so awesome to see the guys celebrate like that after the game,” Gonzalez Jr. said. “There’s a lot of fight in this team. We feel like we can come from behind and compete against anyone.”

After the Panthers (11-10) grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first, the Hurricanes responded immediately.

In the opening frame, freshman Daniel Cuvet doubled down the right-field line to plate a run and cut the deficit in half.

Four pitches later, Gonzalez Jr. singled home Cuvet to knot the game up at 2-2.

Crowther began the top of the second and dazzled in relief. The redshirt freshman surrendered just two hits across a career-long five innings.

“It feels awesome,” said Crowther, who was making just his fifth appearance off of Tommy John surgery. “Today, I felt like I was dialed in and just dealing.”

With Crowther lifted, FIU regained its lead in the seventh on an Austin Dearing solo homer, but pinch hitter Gaby Gutierrez leveled things one inning later.

Miami right-hander Nick Robert (4-0) logged the win in relief, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless frames. Meanwhile, FIU lefty Ryan Cabarcas (3-2) was tagged with the loss.

Up next, the Hurricanes leave the state of Florida for the first time in 2024, as Miami travels to face Notre Dame. The three-game series is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

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