MIAMI (April 22, 2016) -- FIU softball begins the second half of its 11-game road swing with a non-conference series at Florida Gulf Coast this weekend. The Panthers are playing their lone open conference weekend and lined up the series with the Eagles, who were also open with the Atlantic Sun Conference. FIU enters the series at 23-23 for the season, with FGCU posting a 23-21 mark to this point.
 
The Panthers have won just two of their last eight games overall and just one of their last six non-conference games, looking to turn things around at the FGCU Softball Complex. The series begins with a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a noon Sunday finale. All three games will be streamed at the FGCU live stream, which is available on the A-Sun Network and ESPN3 (Watch ESPN App).
 
FIU leads the all-time series with FGCU 11-6, which includes a 6-3 mark over the past five seasons. The Panthers split a doubleheader at Felsberg Field at the FIU Softball Stadium late last April, both 2-1 results, and also split in their last trip to Ft. Myers on April 2, 2014. The teams have both won three of the six games in the series at FGCU in their history.
 
The Panthers remain the top hitting team in Conference USA, at .321, and lead in on-base percentage (.392), hits (387) while second in C-USA in runs (229) and third in slugging (.452) and RBI (185). FIU is third in ERA, at 3.19, while pitching the second-most innings (300.2) by a team in the league.
 
Last weekend, junior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) hit a pair of home runs in the road series at UAB. Texeira is tied for the Conference USA lead with 12 home runs, also tying her best output in a season, which she produced in her freshman campaign of 2014. Those tie for the fifth-most hit in a single season in program history. She is the third player to hit 12 or more in a season twice at FIU. Her 31 career homers are tied for the second-most in program history, two behind the all-time leader. She is also second in the league with 39 RBI. The 2016 Preseason All-Conference member was named Co-Conference Hitter of the Week on February 29.
 
Over the last 10 FIU games, Texeira and sophomore A.J. Belans (Hollywood, Florida / American Heritage HS) have both hit four home runs, with Belans driving in 10 runs, and Texeira nine in that stretch. Despite an 0-1 mark, freshman Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) has a 0.69 earned run average in the last 10 FIU games. She has appeared in five of those games, allowing less than a hit (17) per inning pitched (20.1) and giving up just two earned runs.
 
The two teams are relatively even in pitching numbers, but FIU has a commanding margin over the Eagles in most offensive categories, hitting 35 points better in batting average, scoring 37 more runs, and leading 30-13 in home runs hit.
 
Following this series, the Panthers finish the road trip with a three-game series at Marshall on April 30 and May 1.

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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/.