BOCA RATON, Fla. (March 28, 2015) – The FIU softball team (21-16, 4-7 C-USA) split a pair of games at rival Florida Atlantic on Saturday evening. Strong pitching closed the door on the Owls in the first game before Florida Atlantic's offense tagged the Panthers for five runs in the nightcap.
 
FIU 4, Florida Atlantic 2
In her 75^th career start, junior Corinne Jenkins (13-7) went the first 4.1 innings, allowing just four hits, while striking out one. Senior Shelby Graves came into a tough bases loaded predicament in the fourth inning and closed out the final 2.2 innings, allowing no runs and picking up her first save this season.
 
The middle of the Panthers' lineup produced all four Panther runs, while sophomore Stephanie Texeira and Gabby Spallone each had two-hit games, while senior Krystal Garcia drove in two off a double in the third.
 
Texeira jumped on the first pitch she saw from the Owls' Samantha Messer and sent it back up the middle for a two-out single in the top of the first. She came around to score on Spallone's league-leading 12^th double this season.
 
Back-to-back singles gave the Owls' early life in the first inning, but a timely caught-looking strikeout by Jenkins and a failed double-steal for Florida Atlantic quickly erased the jam.
 
The Panthers stretched their lead to 4-0 in the third inning. Sophomore Ashley Leon reached on an infield single hit to the right side to get her team going and came around to score on Texeira's second hit of the day. A single by Spallone put two on for Garcia, whose double cleared the base paths. Despite two fielding errors for FIU in the bottom of the frame, the Panthers were able to limit the damage to just one Florida Atlantic run, as freshman Ashley Belans traced into no-man's land for a fading fly ball to wipe the threat.
 
Miscues plagued FIU again in the bottom of the fifth, as Melissa Martinez reached on an error and eventually scored off a passed balled. The Owls loaded the bases in the frame and forced a pitching change with one out, but Graves was able to shut the door on Florida Atlantic with the help of putouts by Leon and Belans.
 
Graves shut Florida Atlantic down in order to secure the victory.
 
Florida Atlantic 5, FIU 1
Freshman Rachel Dwyer (2-1) went one-plus innings before sophomore Brianna Bartuccio came into the game for the final 4.2 innings and kept the Owls at bay with just two allowed runs during her stint in the circle.
 
Errors proved to be costly for the Panthers in the first inning, as Florida Atlantic was able to put up three runs in the frame. The Owls stretched their lead to 5-0 in the second before going down 1-2-3 in the third, courtesy of a 5-4-3 double play for the Panthers. FIU was held hitless until Belans and Leon each roped singles to the outfield in the third, but no runs.
 
Florida Atlantic's Kylee Hanson troubled FIU all game and fanned all three batters in the fourth inning. Belans tried to spark a rally in the fifth inning with a two-out ground-rule double and was followed by a single and stolen base by Leon, but both would be stranded. Freshman Erin Eiland laced a double to the wall in the seventh, which was followed by a walk to Belans. Both runners advanced into scoring position off a passed ball. Eiland scored off Leon's RBI single to keep the Panthers alive with one out, but Florida Atlantic would retire the next two to close the game.
 
Tomorrow afternoon's rubber match is slated for 1 p.m. from FAU 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/.