BIRMINGHAM (April 17, 2016) -- FIU pounded out 14 hits, including home runs from shortstop A.J. Belans (Hollywood, Florida / American Heritage HS) and first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep), to improve its Sunday record to 9-1 in an 11-3 win in a series finale at Conference USA opponent UAB at Mary Bowers Field.
 
The win levels the FIU record to 23-23, with an 8-10 league mark. UAB is now 19-24, 9-6 in Conference USA.
 
The game was broken open by the Panthers in the second inning. After a leadoff walk to third baseman Dani Mowry (Cocoa, Florida / Space Coast HS), Belans sent her eighth homer of the season over the wall in center on a 1-2 pitch for the game's first runs. After two more singles, a third run scored on a sacrifice bunt attempt that resulted in an error and an extra baserunner for the Panthers. Freshman outfielder Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) singled to left and drove in the final run of the frame and the Panthers led 4-0.
 
A walk and a single put runners at the corners in the bottom half, with a fielder's choice bunt resulting in a run for UAB.
 
FIU continued the offensive output in the third frame. After a groundout, the Panthers loaded the bases with two singles wrapped around a hit batter. A ground ball resulted in a force out at home, but the UAB catcher threw away the chance at a double play, allowing two Panther runs to score on the play, giving FIU a 6-1 lead.
 
Four singles resulted in two UAB runs in the fifth, but Texeira blasted a 1-1 pitch out to right for a two-run homer to make it an 8-3 game. The home run was her 12^th of the season, tying her best season total, set back in her freshman campaign of 2014. That total is tied for fifth-best in a season in program history and she is now just two away from tying the career home run mark, now sitting in a tie for second all-time with 31 career homers. Her two driven in also pushes her career RBI mark to 131, just five away from second on the FIU career all-time list.
 
It was the fourth time this season that Belans and Texeira homered in the same game.
 
Belans tied a career high with her fourth hit of the day in the seventh. With two outs, an RBI single from pinch hitter Deven Kennedy (Montgomery, Alabama) drove in Belans and after a walk, the second triple of the season from Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep / Auburn University) drove in two more for the game's final scoring. Leon is now tied for the team lead with two triples with Gabby Spallone (Miami, Florida / Palmetto HS). She also tied Spallone for ninth all-time at FIU with four career triples.
 
The win went to freshman Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) after 4.1 innings, pushing her season mark to 9-7. She allowed seven hits and one walk, with two strikeouts.
 
Freshman Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) got the save. She entered in the fifth with two runners on in a 6-3 game, elicited a ground ball for a double play and tossed the final two innings of scoreless softball, giving up just two hits. It was her second save of the season.
 
UAB's Madison Hir took the loss, dropping her to 6-8. She was pulled after facing 10 batters in the first inning, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks.
 
FIU's Aleima Lopez (Deltona, Florida / Deltona HS) also tied a career high with three hits in the game.
 
The Panthers get their open Conference USA weekend next week, choosing to fill that gap with a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast. The FGCU series begins with a Saturday doubleheader from Fort Myers at 2 p.m.

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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/.