MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2015) – The FIU softball team (10-6) split a pair on its second day at the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational, first blanking the Columbia Lions, 7-0, before being shut-out by the Texas State Bobcats, 8-0.
Game One: FIU 7, Columbia 0 Senior
Shelby Graves (2-2) went the distance in a one-hit shutout of Columbia, fanning a season-high seven batters.
Sophomore
Stephanie Texeira (2-for-2, 3 RBI) tallied the third multi-home run game of her career, taking Columbia's pitchers deep in the third and fifth innings, making it two-straight games with at least one home run. Senior
Krystal Garcia (2-for-3, 2 RBI) also collected a solo shot for the Panthers in the third inning.
For the fourth time this season, the Panthers had a multi-run first inning, as FIU put up a three-spot early on Columbia. Senior
Rebekah Sanchez and sophomore
Ashley Leon each singled to center field, while Texeira was dealt four-straight balls to load the bases. Sophomore
Gabby Spallone snuck a two-RBI double through the left side, while Garcia had an RBI groundout.
Graves was cruising into the third inning, retiring all three Lions she faced with a strikeout, upping her game total to four. The Panthers gave her a six-run cushion in the bottom half of the inning, following home runs by both Texeira and Garcia, as part of an inning where FIU batted around. For Texeira, it marked the second time in as many games that she went yard.
Graves continued her dominance in the circle, retiring 13-straight before an infield error in the seventh inning, but then went on to get the next three Lions she faced.
Game Two: Texas State 8, FIU 0 Junior
Corinne Jenkins (6-4) got tagged with the loss, lasting just three innings before giving way to sophomore
Rachel Dwyer.
Jenkins ran into trouble early, as Texas State was able to manufacture a bases loaded situation. The Sarasota, Fla., native kept her composure and picked up a pivotal strikeout for out number two and forced a fly out to junior
Dominique Grossman in right field to leave three Bobcats stranded. FIU ran into some trouble again in the second inning, but this time Texas State was able to capitalize and take a 4-0 lead.
Some questionable calls gifted Texas State two additional runs in the third inning as it took a 6-0 lead. Texeira singled to center with one out in the top of the fourth, but was left stranded by the inning's end. Two more runs for Texas State came across in the fourth.
FIU looked to have a rally started in the fifth inning, as two were on with two outs, but a call at the plate ended the inning, forcing the mercy rule finish.
The Panthers close out the tournament tomorrow at 2 p.m. versus North Dakota.
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 (
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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/.
