GAINESVILLE, Fla. (February 17, 2017) -- FIU won its fifth-straight game and started the weekend at the Aquafina Invitational with a 6-1 win over Maryland Friday morning in college softball action in Gainesville. The invitational, hosted by top-ranked University of Florida, takes place at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
 
The Panthers are 6-1 after the victory, dropping the Terrapins to 0-6.
 
Senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) collected two RBI to lead the team. She has 10 on the season, second-most on the squad.
 
FIU scored twice in the second inning with just one hit. It started with a leadoff walk to freshman Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep). A sacrifice bunt by freshman Tori Jones (Raymond, Mississippi) moved her to second. After a strikeout, Araceli Peralta (Tucson, Arizona) singled on the infield to put runners at the corners. At that point, a throwing error on the first baseman led to Peralta and Rivera scoring to give FIU the lead.
 
Senior Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) drove a triple out to left center with one out in the fifth and came home on a sacrifice fly in foul territory down the first-base line by Texeira for an insurance run and a 3-0 lead. The triple was the sixth of her career and the first for a Panther this season.

The Terps avoided the shutout with a run in the fifth. Maryland loaded the bases against starting pitcher Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) with one out. Sophomore Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) came in and got the two outs, one coming on a fielder's choice that scored a run. A strikeout ended the threat and kept the FIU lead at 3-1.
 
FIU tacked on three runs in the sixth inning. Senior Sammi Green (Marietta, Georgia) and Peralta hit back-to-back singles with one out to start the offense. The Terps then walked Schoff, Leon and then Texeira for an RBI. A second RBI in the inning came on a fielder's choice from junior catcher Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Florida / Palm Beach Central HS). Castle has the team-high total of 13 RBI this year.
 
Kugelmann got the win (2-0), tossing 5.1 innings, pitching around 10 hits. She did not record a strikeout or allow a walk. Summers got the save, not allowing a hit in the last 1.2 innings. She had one strikeout and two walks.
 
FIU will take on Florida A&M at 1:30 in Gainesville before two more games tomorrow and one on Sunday.

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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/.