MIAMI (January 19, 2017) -- The FIU softball program has set up its 2017 campaign for a full slate of 56 games this season, including six opponents on the slate which made the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
 
"We have a competitive schedule," said FIU head coach Gator Rebhan. "We play out in Orlando at the Diamond Nine College Citrus Classic II, and they have some strong teams there, including Notre Dame. That'll be good for us. We go to Gainesville to play up at (second-ranked) Florida again. We'll see some good competition there.
 
The Panthers will host two of the five non-conference weekends this season, starting the year at home with the Felsberg Invitational, from February 10-13. The Panthers will open the season Friday with two games, against Georgetown and Seton Hall, both from the BIG EAST conference. FIU plays five games in three days at home to begin the year.
 
The Panthers play on the road, but in the state of Florida, for the next three weekends, in Gainesville, Fort Myers and Orlando, playing three of the six squads (Florida, Florida A&M and Notre Dame) that made the postseason a year ago in that 17-game road stretch.
 
FIU returns home to co-host the Panthers-Owls Friendly with Florida Atlantic, taking on two more postseason teams (Fordham and LIU Brooklyn) that weekend, the latter taking place in Boca Raton on Sunday, March 5.
 
FIU will host Fairfield on Wednesday the 15^th of March before hosting North Texas in its first Conference USA action of the season. That series begins with a doubleheader on March 18 before the final on Sunday the 19^th. After a home game the following Thursday with Jacksonville, the Panthers will head on the road for three-straight weekends in conference before hosting Marshall on April 14 and 15. The Florida Atlantic Owls, the reigning league champ and final postseason team on the docket, will await FIU on April 1 and 2.
 
"The main thing about the season is our conference," said Rebhan. "The conference schedule is extremely strong and it's going to be tough. Last year, I think the top ten teams in Conference USA were in the top 100 for a while, which I think was the highest in the country at one time."
 
The Panthers will finish the season with back-to-back home weekends - with a WKU series on April 29-30 and LA Tech to finish the year on May 5-6.
 
The C-USA Tournament will be May 10-13 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, hosted by Southern Miss.

Game times for the season schedule will be posted as soon as finalized.

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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/.