MIAMI (January 15. 2017) -- With the start of the spring semester on Monday, January 9, FIU softball wrapped up its first week of spring practice in anticipation of the 2017 campaign this weekend.
 
Three transfers and five freshman join 14 returning players from last season's 29-27 campaign, when the Panthers led Conference USA in batting, with a .325 average. FIU was the only team to strike out fewer than 200 times in the season, while recording the most amount of hits (479) and third-highest runs total (274) in the league. FIU was also third in the league in earned run average (3.12).
 
Individually, had she not missed 15 games due to injury to qualify for the statistical minimums, rising senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) would have finished third in the league in batting average (team-leading .413), while she was tied for third in the league home runs (13) and runs batted in (46). She struck out just twice in 121 season at bats. Texeira is second in program history for homers (32) and RBI (138) and needs just one home run and 23 runs driven in to become the all-time school leader in each category. She also is 28 runs scored and 10 walks from school records in those categories. She is currently the all-time leader in career batting average (.421), 64 points higher than the next-closest Panther.
 
Senior Gabby Spallone (Miami Florida / Palmetto HS) was fourth among all C-USA outfielders with a .360 batting average. She tied for the team lead with Texeira with 12 doubles and was third on the squad with 35 RBI. She was one of just two players to start and play in all 56 games in the 2016 season.
 
Senior second baseman Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) officially led the team with a .409 average, 40 runs scored and three triples, while second on FIU with 13 stolen bases. Her 65 hits were second-most among Panthers and C-USA second baseman, while she tied for the league lead with 12 sacrifice hits and led C-USA second baseman with her runs-scored total. Her six strikeouts were second-fewest among the regular starters.
 
FIU will host a tournament during the opening weekend of regular-season play, with the Felsberg Invitational starting the 2017 campaign. FIU will take on Rutgers at 4 p.m. Eastern at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium to begin the weekend, during which FIU will play six contests against four different opponents. FIU won 18 of the 33 games played on the home surface last season.

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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/.