Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. (March 29, 2015) – The FIU softball team (22-16, 5-7 C-USA) secured a series victory over the (RV) Florida Atlantic Owls on Sunday, following a 3-0 blanking of its in-state rival.
Junior
Corinne Jenkins (14-7) tossed a gem, registering her third shutout this season and allowed just five hits over seven innings of work.
For the second-straight season, Jenkins and Florida Atlantic's Amanda Wilson found themselves in a pitchers' duel, with both aces breezing through the first two innings without allowing a base runner. The Owls' tagged Jenkins for their first hit in third inning, and eventually worked the bases loaded with a bloop single and walk, but the righty keep her composure to force a fly out for the third out of the frame.
After being retired in order its first time through the lineup, FIU's offense kick-started itself in the fourth inning, beginning with sophomore
Stephanie Texeira, who worked a full count and eventual walk for the team's first base runner of the game. Sophomore
Gabby Spallone followed with the Panthers' first hit and both came home to score off senior
Krystal Garcia's bases-clearing double to the gap in left-center field.
With a two-run lead to work with, Jenkins made quick work of the Owls in the fourth inning, courtesy of a 5-4-3 double play, wiping away a lead-off walk. She worked around a lead-off single in the fifth inning, as Texeira handled a sharply hit grounder for the unassisted putout at first base. Florida Atlantic gave FIU a scare in the sixth inning, as two reached on hits, but Jenkins forced a fly out and Spallone secured the third out in center field.
FIU looked to give its pitcher some added insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Junior
Aleima Lopez led off the inning with a single to center and was pinch ran for by redshirt sophomore
Marisa McGregor. After sophomore
Sammi Green laid down a sacrifice bunt to push McGregor up 60 feet, a single by freshman
Ashley Belans put runners on the corners. Junior
Dominique Grossman replaced Belans at first base and was successfully caught in a run-down long enough for McGregor to score from third.
The Panthers will have a short week, as UAB comes to town for a crucial three-game set beginning on Thursday, April 2 at 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/.
