Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (March 15, 2015) – The FIU softball team (18-11, 3-2 C-USA) split a pair of games on Sunday, first falling to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 7-6, following a tumultuous fourth inning, before battling back to take the series with an 8-4 win in the second of two played from Blue Raider Softball Stadium.
 
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 7, FIU 6
Senior Shelby Graves (4-5) retired the first nine batters she faced before getting tagged for seven runs in fourth and exiting the game after 3.1 innings pitched. Freshman Rachel Dwyer tossed a strong 3.2 innings in relief, but a seven-run fourth inning for the Blue Raiders plagued the Panthers from any late-inning comeback.
 
Sophomore Stephanie Texeira (1-for-1, 3 RBI) further solidified her name in the Panthers' record books with a three-run home run in the second inning. With the blast, Texeira slides into a tie for seventh all-time in program history with 18 home runs. Freshman Ashely Belans (1-for-3, 2 RBI) and junior Dominique Grossman (1-for-3, 1 RBI) were the other sources of run production for FIU.
 
After what looked to be a promising first inning, the Panthers capitalized in the second inning with six runs. Junior Aleima Lopez led off the inning with a stand-up double on the first pitch she saw and advanced to third off Graves' sacrifice bunt. Grossman plated her off a single to center field. With two in scoring position late in the frame, Belans plated a few insurance runs for Graves off a two-RBI single to center. After walks in 11 of her last 14 plate appearances, Texeira ended the drought with a three-run homer for her seventh round-tripper this season.
 
Senior Krystal Garcia capped off a 1-2-3 bottom of the third with a snag of a line drive in the hot corner. Graves made quick work of the Blue Raiders' lineup its first time through, retiring the first nine batters she faced before Cor'Nisha Birdsong led off the fourth inning with a walk. From there, Middle Tennessee's bats awoke and plated seven runs to take its first lead of the series, 7-6. Dwyer came in with one away and picked up a much needed strikeout for the second out of the frame.
 
Sophomore Ashely Leon's dominance at second base continued in the fifth inning, as the Miami native snagged a sharply hit line-drive with a diving catch deep in the hole and doubled the runner at first for a quick two outs. Garcia went across the diamond to cap a 1-2-3 inning for Dwyer.
 
FIU 8, Middle Tennessee 4
Junior Corinne Jenkins (11-6) picked up her second win of the weekend in as many attempts, going the distance for the second time in two days.
 
FIU manufactured an early run in the first inning. After a leadoff double by senior Rebekah Sanchez, Leon advanced her to third base on a well-executed sacrifice bunt. Following a walk to Texeira to put runners on the corners, Spallone's fielder's choice plated Sanchez.
 
Middle Tennessee's opportunity in the bottom of the frame went by the wayside, as Cor'Nisha Birdsong was stranded as third base. Jenkins finished off the inning by fielding a groundout in the circle. The Blue Raiders found the tying run in the second inning off a lead-off home run by Lauren Riddell.
 
Home runs continued to trouble the Panthers in the third and fourth innings, as Middle Tennessee took a 4-1 lead off a two-run shot in the third and a solo homer in the fourth. Leon's second double play of the day wiped away two base runners before Austyn Whaley's solo blast in the fourth.
 
FIU resurfaced with life in the fifth inning, as Belans, Sanchez and Leon all singled to load the bases with no outs. Both Texeira and Spallone hit sacrifice flies to cut the Blue Raiders' lead to 4-3. Some two-out magic in the sixth inning helped FIU erase its once three-run deficit. With two on base, Sanchez singled back up the middle, which drove in Garcia, who reached on a fielder's choice, from second. Leon sent the Panthers into the bottom half of the sixth with a two-run lead following her bases clearing, two-RBI double to right-center field.
 
Grossman padded the Panthers' lead in the top of the seventh with a triple that plated freshman Jessica Hallet, who walked, from first base. Grossman came around to score on the play following an errant throw from right field.
 
FIU will have a quick turn-around, as the Panthers welcome UMass Lowell on Tuesday evening. First pitch of a scheduled double header is set for 5 p.m. from Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
 
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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/.