IRVING, Texas (March 13, 2017) -- For the first time in her young career, freshman Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) has been named Conference USA Softball Pitcher of the Week, announced by the league office on Monday.
 
Saile got the win in all four of her appearances for the week as part of FIU's perfect 7-0 week. She made three starts, including a one-hit shutout of Fairfield Saturday at home, and also won in relief in a tight game against LIU Brooklyn on Sunday. She is one out away from tossing nine-straight shutout innings, allowing just one hit in that span. She has allowed just one baserunner in her last eight innings pitched, and has won her last five appearances, which included a one-hit shutout the previous Sunday to start FIU's season-best eight-game win streak. She has pitched a complete-game one-hitter in three of her 11 career starts. Her 105 strikeouts are one shy of the most for a Panther since 2012, and are third-most in the league and 15th-highest in the nation, but the top total by a freshman in Conference USA. She is second in opponent batting average (.169) and second in strikeouts looking (27) among all C-USA pitchers. She helps pace the Panthers pitching staff that leads the league with 22 wins and a 1.85 staff ERA.
 
FIU will host Fairfield Wedneday night at 7 in Miami before beginning Conference USA play with a home series against North Texas, beginning Saturday at 4 p.m. from Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
 

#######
 
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/.