Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ND: Final Stats (PDF) | Finals Stats (HTML)
UCF: Final Stats (PDF) | Finals Stats (HTML)
ORLANDO, Fla. (March 13, 2014) – Taking the No. 22 team in the nation to 13 innings, the FIU softball team (19-8, 2-1 C-USA) split a pair of contests Thursday afternoon from the UCF Softball Complex. In its longest game since 2007, the Panthers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish battled for 13 innings, before Notre Dame pushed the winning run across in the bottom on the 13th and won, 4-3. Immediately after, the Panthers defeated the UCF Knights, 9-5. Head Coach Jake Schumann now sits one win shy of 400 career victories.
Game One: No. 22 Notre Dame 4, FIU 3 (13)
Junior Shelby Graves threw a career-high 12 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and four strikeouts, in the Panthers' 4-3 loss. It's the first time since senior Mariah Dawson tossed 10 innings in 2011 that a Panther has thrown 10-plus.
Notre Dame struck first, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, following a lead-off double from Emilee Koemer. She would eventually cross home from an RBI single by Kaley Haus. The game would remain 1-0 through the third inning. With a runner on first, Graves buckled down and picked up back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.
After consecutive 1-2-3 innings at the plate, the Panthers bats woke with a two-run fourth inning. Junior Krystal Garcia reached base on a two-out E-3. Redshirt Dani Mowry, who hit her first-career home run yesterday at Jacksonville, followed with her first-career triple today. She would touch all the bags on the play, as an E-4 allowed her to get home safely.
Graves continued to pitch a gem, shutting down Notre Dame 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings, while retiring nine-straight batters heading into the bottom of the sixth. After a one-out single to left, Graves finished the sixth with her fourth punch out of the game.
The Fighting Irish led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left. A sacrifice bunt would be the Panthers' first out of the inning. Following an intentional walk to Koemer, Notre Dame had two on and was able to push the tying run across.
In extras, both teams sent the minimum to the plate in the eight. Freshman Stephanie Texeira led off the ninth reaching base safely off an error on the third baseman. Freshman Gabby Spallone followed with a single, putting two on for Mowry. Already responsible for both of the Panthers' runs, Mowry's RBI base hit put FIU back on top, 3-2.
The Fighting Irish answered in the home half of the ninth with a lead-off homerun. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the tenth. Garcia saved a two-on situation in the bottom of the eleventh, diving to her left and tossing out the runner at second 6-4. The Panthers had a good opportunity in the 13th inning, with singles from senior Nicole Rascon and Spallone. Garcia followed with a single, but Rascon would be thrown out at home, with Spallone getting picked off at third to end the inning. The Irish scored the winning run in the bottom of the 13th.
Game Two: FIU 9, UCF 5
Sophomore Corinne Jenkins went the full seven innings, giving up eight hits and five runs, while fanning two. The win was the tenth of the season for the Sarasota, Fla., native, which is good for second in Conference USA.
UCF took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Mowry would end the damage with a 4-6 double play. After back-to-back walks put Rascon and Texeira on base in the fourth, Garcia doubled to the wall in right-center, which scored Rascon and made it a 2-1 ballgame and started a two-out rally for the Panthers. Sophomore Aleima Lopez then drove in two runs off a double hit down the left field line. She would score off a single to left from senior Rachel Slowik. After senior Bre Kaye singled to put runners on the corners, junior Rebekah Sanchez hit a shot to UCF's shortstop, forcing the E-6 and capping off a five-run inning for FIU.
The Knights would battle back and make it a one-run game in the home half, scoring two runs off a double and an error. Battling winds pushing toward home plate, Spallone crushed a two-run bomb to left-center in the fifth. Texeira led off the inning by beating out an infield single in the at-bat prior. UCF would tack on one final run in the sixth innings.
The Panthers would add some final insurance runs in their last at-bats. Texeira led off the inning with a single for the second time in three innings. After a fielder's choice by Spallone, Garcia singled to load the bases. Lopez snuck a 2-RBI base hit through the middle, making it a 9-5 Panther lead.
Following four games in two days, the Panthers will rest tomorrow as they travel to Lake Charles, La., to play McNeese State in a three-game set over the weekend.
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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 Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer 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 is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
