IRVING, Texas (Feb. 29, 2016) -- Off to an 11-5 start, the FIU softball program registered its first two league weekly honorees as freshman pitcher Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) and junior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) were named Co-Pitcher and Co-Player of the Week, respectively, by Conference USA today.
 
Kugelmann tossed her first collegiate no-hitter and the first of the season for the Panthers Saturday when FIU defeated Central Connecticut State 8-0 in six innings. Combined with two perfect innings against Siena on Friday, Kugelmann tossed eight scoreless innings, allowing two baserunners, one via error and the other via hit batter. She struck out seven in that span. Helping her own cause, she also had three assists defensively. For the season, she is 2-0, possessing a 0.50 earned run average in 14 innings after two starts and two relief appearances for the Panthers. She has 15 strikeouts against two walks and one earned run, allowing just two hits in that span.  
 
Texeira played in four of the six games for the Panthers, belting three homers and driving in 12 RBI in those contests. She also drew four walks in four games, giving her an on-base percentage of .750 and combined with one double, a slugging percentage of 1.500 for her weekend. She hit two three-run home runs, including a walk-off blast and drove in six when FIU beat Central Connecticut Friday night. For the season, Texeira leads Conference USA with seven home runs, 23 runs batted in and a season 1.205 slugging percentage. She also leads FIU with a .538 batting average and five doubles and nine walks. She is one home run shy of her season total from last year and seven away from tying the program's career mark.
 
The Panthers head to the UF Aquafina Invitational this weekend, hosted by top-ranked Florida. FIU will open with Illinois State on Friday, starting at 2:15 p.m. and battle with Florida that evening at 6:45 p.m. FIU will play five games in all (also playing Florida A&M and South Alabama) to complete the tournament portion of the schedule.
 
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.