MIAMI  (February 10, 2017) -- The youth of the FIU softball team came through in the season opener, putting together a 4-0 shutout of Georgetown in the first of two FIU games at the 2017 Felsberg Invitational Friday. The tournament, being held at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium was the second of three contests of the day.
 
Freshman Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) belted a two-run homer, while sophomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) was 3-for-3 and scored twice and sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) earned the three-hit shutout in the pitching circle.
 
Schoff led off the game with a single, was sacrificed over to second by senior Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) and scored on a single from junior transfer Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Florida / Palm Beach Central) for the 1-0 lead in the first inning.
 
Schoff singled again in the third and was driven in from a single to left center from Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the fourth, freshman Tori Jones (Raymond, Mississippi / Jackson Prep) reached and got to trot home on the homer to left from Rivera for the game's final scoring play.
 
Kugelmann was undeterred, mowing through the lineup the first time without a baserunner. The first Hoyas single was off her in the fourth, but Georgetown could only muster two more and the Hoyas only stranded one because the Panthers turned two double plays in the game. Kugelmann struck out four in the complete-game shutout, the fourth of her young career.
 
Three Panthers produced a multi-hit game. Rivera and Texeira had two hits each, with Schoff's three leading the way. It was her sixth career three-hit game.
 
Georgetown got two hits from Mallory Belknap and starting pitcher Katie Vannicola took the loss (0-1) after allowing all four runs in the complete-game effort.
 
The Panthers take on Memphis in the final game of the night of day one.

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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/.