MIAMI (Feb. 15, 2015) – The FIU softball team (7-5) split a pair of games in the final day of the FIU Invitational, dropping an 8-0 decision early Sunday morning to the Purdue Boilermakers before besting the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, 2-1, from Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.

Game One: Purdue 8, FIU 0
Senior Shelby Graves (1-3) took the loss, going six innings and fanning two before giving the ball to freshman Rachel Dwyer in the seventh inning, who struck out one.

Graves began the game with one pitch and one out, which came by way of a 3-4 putout. With two away, the Boilermakers were able to score the game's first run when Kaylah Hampton doubled to center field, scoring Mary Gooding from first base. After a quiet bottom of the first for the Panthers, sophomore Ashley Leon made a highlight-reel play at second base, snagging a chopper between hops and nailing the runner by half a step.

Junior Aleima Lopez was quickly able to dispose of a Boilermaker on base when she tossed out her second runner attempting to steal this season. She turned around and led off the bottom of the third with a hard-hit single to right. After sophomore Marisa McGregor came in to pinch run and advanced to second on a passed ball, senior Rebekah Sanchez collected her second hit in as many at bats, but a 7-2 putout at the plate resulted in a scoreless inning for the Panthers.

Purdue was able to add an insurance run in the fifth inning, along with a four-spot in the top of the sixth and took a 7-0 lead. The Panthers struggled to get any offensive momentum during
the course of the game, while Purdue plated one final run in the top of the seventh for an 8-0 final.

Game Two: FIU 2, LIU 1
Junior Corinne Jenkins (5-3) tallied another complete-game-win to her resume, striking out three and holding the Blackbirds to just three hits all game.

The Panthers looked to be in early trouble after an error in the infield granted the Blackbirds an extra life. With the bases loaded, Sanchez was able to run down a fly ball in the outfield to erase the damage. She led off FIU's half of the first with a walk and eventually came around to score off senior Krystal Garcia's RBI single to center field.

FIU's second error of the game gifted LIU the tying run in the second inning and the Panthers looked to be in a good position in the bottom of the third when sophomore Gabby Spallone reached base on an error. She stole second and took third off the Blackbirds' shortstop's second error of the inning, but the Panthers were unable to capitalize.
 
Graves' hard-hit single to lead off the Panthers' half of the fourth inning put FIU in the right direction. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Dominique Grossman and eventually reached third, but an unsuccessful double-steal resulted in a scoreless inning for FIU. Spallone was able to put the Panthers ahead in the next frame courtesy of a 4-3 groundout.
Sanchez led off the inning with a single to left field and sophomore Stephanie Texeira made it two in scoring position with her double to left-center that just missed the wall. Spallone then drove Sanchez home on a groundout to second.

In the final chance for LIU, Jenkins buckled down and grabbed two caught-looking strikeouts.

FIU is on the road next week to partake in the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSoftball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSoftball) for all the latest FIU Softball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics)
 
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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/.