MIAMI (March 24, 2016) -- FIU Softball hosts Conference USA foe UTEP for a three-game series this weekend at Felsberg Field and FIU Softball Stadium.  The Easter-weekend series starts with a doubleheader Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and concludes Saturday with a single game at 1 p.m.
 
FIU enters the weekend with an 18-14 overall record, 4-2 in two C-USA actoin. UTEP is 12-20, 3-3 in league games.
 
The Panthers are coming off their highest scoring output of the season, a 16-7 victory Sunday at WKU to complete the series. In that game, sophomore A.J. Belans scored four runs, the most by any Panther in a game this season. She is tied for the league lead with seven runs scored in conference games only. FIU is first in C-USA in hits (271), second in the league in batting average (.328, by one percentage point to Marshall), second in runs scored (171) and third in RBI (138). The Panthers have the league's third-best earned run average (3.17) and second-most strikeouts (198).
 
UTEP was swept in a Monday doubleheader at home to No. 15 Missouri. The Miners are last in the league in earned run average (5.99) and opponent batting average against (.352), but they hold their own offensively, batting .308 as a team (fifth in C-USA), are third in hits (256), and are one double away from the league lead with 41. UTEP is second-worst in strikeouts (145) and last in stolen bases, with just five in 32 games. Courtney Clayton is a one-woman wrecking shop for UTEP, leading the team in batting average, runs, hits and a league-leading 12 doubles. She is in the Top 10 in all of those categories in C-USA.
 
The Panthers and Miners met in just one series in their history, with UTEP sweeping FIU in El Paso last season. Two of the three games were settled by one run, including an 11-10 offensive explosion in eight innings in the second game of a doubleheader on April 11.
 
The Panthers will start April with a weekend conference road series at North Texas.
 
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/.