MIAMI (Feb. 20. 2016) -- A solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning from junior Dani Mowry (Cocoa, Florida / Space Coast HS) proved to be the difference as FIU defeated visiting Delaware 3-2 Sunday to complete the Panther Invitational at Felsberg Field in the FIU Softball Stadium Sunday afternoon.
 
The win avenged the Panthers' only loss of the Invitational, when the Blue Hens scored late to win 5-4 on Saturday afternoon. FIU has won two games in a row, pushing its record to 8-2 on the season, and dropping Delaware to 3-3.
 
Mowry's homer was her first of the season and she became the fifth Panther to hit one out of Felsberg Field this year. 
 
FIU got the scoring started in the third, when second baseman Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Auburn University) scored all the way from second on a wild pitch that bounced away from the catcher for the 1-0 lead.
 
Delaware answered to tie with a run in the top of the fourth when Anna Steinmetz hit her second home run against the Panthers in the two games out to center. She led all players in the Invitational with four homers for the weekend.
 
FIU retook the lead in the fourth. Delaware walked the first two batters and A.J. Belans (Hollywood, Florida / American Heritage) doubled to center to drive in lead runner Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) for the 2-1 edge. Texeira was hit by a pitch and walked twice, once intentionally, in her three plate appearances. She has reached base 21 times in 35 plate appearances this season. Belans leads the team with 12 RBI through 10 games this season.
 
A pair of errors led to an unearned run in the top of the fifth as UD tied the game again, ahead of the sixth-inning game winner by Mowry.
 
Freshman Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) got the win. She pitched 6.1 innings, striking out four and allowing just one earned run. Junior Hunter Scharf (Lake Worth, Florida / Grandview Prep) got a strikeout and a flyout to end the game and record her second save of the season.
 
Sophomore second baseman Jessica Hallett (Phoenix, Arizona) led the Panthers with two of the team's four hits. FIU left five on base, while Delaware stranded seven on base after a nine-hit day.
 
The Panthers will play a single game Thursday night against Central Connecticut State, with the first pitch at 7 p.m.
 
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/.