INDIANAPOLIS (May 14, 2017) -- For the third time in program history, the FIU Softball team has been selected as an at-large entrant to the NCAA Softball Tournament. The Panthers, who set the program record with 45 wins in 2017, are headed to Gainesville, Florida, for the Gainesville Regional, with play beginning on Friday, May 19.
 
FIU will face Oklahoma State in its first game at the regional, at noon Friday. The game will be televised on ESPNU. The host Gators are the top seed and take on Florida A&M in their opening game, at 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Panthers are 1-1 all-time against OSU, losing 3-0 at the USF Tournament in 2001, and beating the Cowgirls in their most recent meeting, 5-4, in Boca Raton in March of 2004.
 
FIU set program marks for wins and winning percentage (.776) after a 45-13 campaign. The Panthers took the second seed in the Conference USA Tournament and advanced through the bracket to the title game, falling 1-0 to Louisiana Tech for the league crown on Saturday afternoon.
 
FIU led the conference in on-base percentage (.384) on offense, fielding percentage (.977) on defense and the pitching staff led the league in earned run average (1.73), pitching strikeouts (358) opponent batting average (.199) and victories (45).
 
The regional is a double-elimination format to crown one team to advance to the Super Regionals, which will pit regional winners against one another in a best-of-three format. The Gainesville Regional winner faces off against the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional the following weekend. Those eight Super Regional winners advance to the Women's College World Series at OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, June 1-7 or 8, 2017.
 
The Panthers previously made the field of 64 in 2003 and 2010, and sport a 2-4 all-time mark in the NCAA Postseason.

Gainesville Regional Schedule of Games
Friday, May 19
Game 1 (12 p.m.) – Oklahoma State vs. FIU (ESPNU)
Game 2 (2:30 p.m.) – Florida A&M at No. 1 Florida (SEC Network)

Saturday, May 20
Game 3 (12 p.m.) - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 
Game 4 (2:30 p.m.) - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5 (5 p.m.) - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Sunday, May  21
Game 6 (12 p.m.) - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 (2:30 p.m., If Necessary) - Same teams for Regional Championship

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.