MIAMI (March 22, 2015) – The FIU softball team (20-14, 3-6 C-USA) had its offensive woes continue on Sunday, as the Panthers fell to the North Texas Mean Green, 4-0, in the final game of a three-game series.
 
Junior Corinne Jenkins (12-7) tossed 5.1 innings in the loss before turning the game over to freshman Rachel Dwyer, who closed out the final one-plus inning.
 
North Texas tagged FIU for two runs in the first, but the Panthers were able to stop the bleeding and leave three on with heads up defense by freshman Jessica Hallett, who charged a sacrifice bunt and nailed the lead runner. A pop out to sophomore Ashley Leon at second base ended the inning.
 
Leon led off for the Panthers in the home half and reached on a walk, eventually advancing to third base, but she would be stranded. Jenkins worked around a one-out double in the top of the second and retired the side in the third to keep the Mean Green offense at bay.
 
North Texas' Monique Garcia carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but a lead-off single by senior Rebekah Sanchez snapped the streak of retired batters at nine. Offensive struggles continued to plague the Panthers in the frame, as sophomore Gabby Spallone would make it two on base, but no runs would cross the plate.
 
Spallone flashed some leather in the top of the fifth, as the center fielder left her feet for a diving snag for the inning's first out. Leon helped Dwyer out of a two-on situation in the top of the sixth with an unassisted double play. She led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to right field and Spallone made it runners on the corners with her two-out single, but the FIU offense again struggled to manufacture any runs.
 
FIU closes out its six-game home stand on Wednesday, March 25 versus UCF. First pitch from Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
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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/.