JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (April 8, 2015) — The FIU softball team (26-17) picked up two wins on Wednesday afternoon, sweeping both ends of a double header against the North Florida Ospreys. The Panthers used last-inning magic to win game one before utilizing suffocating pitching and offense in the night cap.
 
FIU 7, North Florida 6
Senior Shelby Graves tossed the first 3.2 innings and coasted through the top of the fourth before the Ospreys were able to connect with two outs. Freshman Rachel Dwyer came into the game with two outs in the fourth and picked up a timely strikeout to end the frame and lasted two-thirds of an inning before turning the game over to sophomore Brianna Bartuccio. The Tampa, Fla., native went the final 2.2 innings and picked up her third win of the season to improve to 3-0, while allowing just two hits.
 
Sophomore Ashley Leon led off the game with a quality at-bat, which ultimately resulted in a bloop single over the Osprey short stop's head. After forcing an errant throw on an attempted steal to easily coast into second base, Leon came around to score on a one-out single by sophomore Gabby Spallone.
 
Graves fought off two-straight innings where the Ospreys put two runners on base and kept North Florida scoreless with a long fly out to Spallone in the bottom of the first and a strikeout in the second inning.
 
The Panthers provided Graves with a two-run cushion to work with in the top of the third, which got started when senior Rebekah Sanchez led off with a single through the left side. After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Leon, Sanchez came around to score on sophomore Stephanie Texeira's rifled single to left field.
 
Junior Aleima Lopez took the first pitch she was offered in the fourth inning and sent it over the wall in center field. Freshman Ashley Belans also came around to score in the frame, reaching on a single to right field and coming around on a two-base errant throw on Sanchez' second hit of the game. After Graves picked up two quick outs, the Ospreys tagged her for four-straight singles and forced a pitching change for FIU. Dwyer picked up a strikeout to get the Panthers out of the inning with the lead still intact.
 
North Florida forced another Panther pitching change during its next trip to the plate and took a 6-4 lead off a three-run fifth inning. Bartuccio held North Florida scoreless in the sixth and sent FIU into its last ups with a two-run deficit to make up.
 
For the second-straight game, seventh inning heroics played in FIU's favor as Sanchez and Leon each reached on infield hits to open the frame. A bases-clearing double by Texeira tied the game at 6-6 and Lopez' two-out single through the left side gave FIU the go-ahead run. Bartuccio shut the Ospreys down in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
 
FIU 10, North Florida 0 (5)
Junior Corinne Jenkins (16-7) tossed her 12^th career shutout and picked up her 16^th win of the season off a two-hit, three-strikeout performance.
 
After a lead-off Osprey single was erased from a pickoff by Lopez, the Panthers turned its 19^th double play of the season to end the inning, 1-2-3.  North Florida was able to get Abby Tewy as far as third base in the bottom of the second, but Jenkins forced a popup to Leon at second base to leave her stranded.
 
Spallone broke a scoreless game in the top of the third inning with her fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot to straight-away center with two outs. The home run bolstered the Panthers' center fielder onto the top 10 list for home runs in a career (12).
 
North Florida held patient at the plate in the bottom of the third inning, forcing Jenkins to load the bases with one out. FIU's ace was able to ring up Katie Mandigo (swinging) and Abby Tewey (looking) to freeze the Ospreys and pick up the final two outs of the inning.
 
FIU broke the game open in the fifth inning with seven runs. Spallone registered her first-career five-RBI game with a bases-clearing double, which plated freshman Erin Eiland, who singled, and Sanchez, who reached on a fielder's choice. Senior Krystal Garcia stroked the Panthers second three-run home run of the game two batters later to up the score to a then-8-0 lead. The home run also placed her for a tie with Spallone for 10^th all-time. Sophomore Brianne Kimura pinch hit with two outs and gave FIU its final two runs of the game off her first-career double.
 
Jenkins completed the shutout with her defense turning a double play.
 
FIU resumes its conference slate this weekend with a three-game series in El Paso, Texas against the UTEP Miners.
 
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 (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics)

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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/.