Following its first 3-0 league start since 2011, the FIU Panthers softball team heads to Bowling Green to take on WKU for a three-game, Conference USA series this weekend. The series begins with a Saturday doubleheader at the WKU Softball Complex, starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.
 
The Panthers are 17-12 overall, and 3-0 after a weekend sweep of Charlotte at home last weekend. The Lady Toppers are 8-12 overall, but were rained out last weekend of a scheduled trip to Louisiana Tech. Both teams lost their two midweek games this week, FIU dropping a Tuesday home doubleheader against Rutgers and WKU falling twice Wednesday at home to Lipscomb.
 
Last weekend, the Panthers won a pair of pitching duels against Charlotte and handing the 49ers their first run-rule loss of the year in the sweep. Two of the league wins went to senior Corinne Jenkins (Sarasota, Florida / Riverview HS), while the third win and the Sunday save were credited to freshman Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS). Kugelmann won her third-straight Conference USA Pitcher of the Week award for her 2-0 week (also winning against East Carolina). Kugelmann leads the conference, and sits fifth in the nation, in fewest hits allowed per seven innings (3.41), while her three shutouts are tied for 16^th nationally. As a team, the Panthers lead the conference with a .328 batting average, with their top three hitters all hitting over .350 with 28 or 29 games played each.
 
The Lady Toppers have struggled offensively this season, ranking 11^th in the league with a .245 batting average. WKU is in the bottom half in every statistical category that the NCAA puts in the team rankings. Jordan Mauch leads the Lady Toppers with a .316 batting average, 18 hits and 11 RBI this season. In the pitching circle, Hannah Parker has tossed more than half of the team's innings this season. She is 5-7, with a 3.41 earned run average this season.
 
In 50 all-time meetings, the Panthers have a slight 27-23 edge in the series. The last eight games have taken place in Miami and WKU is 6-2 in that stretch.  The last time these two teams played a three-game series in Bowling Green, in 2010, FIU swept the series by a combined 23-3 margin, including one win in extra innings and another via the eight-run-rule after five frames.
 
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/.