Gainesville, Fla. (March 4, 2016) – The FIU softball team (11-7) worked a defensive battle Friday evening against the No. 1 Florida Gators (18-0), but ultimately dropped a 3-1 decision to conclude day one of the Aquafina UF Invitational Friday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The Gators took the lead early in the competition scoring one run in the first inning. The Panthers closed up the inning with a line drive into a double play to shortstop A.J. Belans (Hollywood, Florida / American Heritage HS).

In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers saw defensive genius when Gabby Spallone (Miami, Florida / Palmetto HS) caught a fly ball, leaping at the fence to rob a homer. Spallone manically fired it back to first for the inning-ending double play.  

In the fifth inning, UF improved its lead by sending a runner home off a sacrifice fly into foul territory. With two runners left on, the Panthers closed up the inning trailing 2-0.

In the top of the sixth senior Dominique Grossman (Miami, Florida / Georgia Southern) hit a homer to left field to put the Panthers on the board, 2-1. It was the first homer allowed by the top-ranked and undefeated UF pitching staff this year.  

The bottom of the sixth saw an unearned run scored by the Gators off a catching error at first base by freshman Deven Kennedy (Montgomery, Alabama). The Gators finalized the score at 3-1, as the Panthers were unable to reach the plate again.

Senior Corinne Jenkins (Sarasota, Florida / Riverview HS) took the tough loss, dropping to 1-3. Jenkins allowed five hits and three runs, two of them unearned. Gator pitcher Delanie Gourley improved her record to 7-0, allowing her first run of the season.

The Panthers will return to action tomorrow, March 5, as they take on the Gators again. The competition is slated for 2:15 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/.