FORT MYERS, Florida (February 24, 2017) -- Senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) tied the FIU career homerun record with her first homer of 2017 as the Panthers beat Rutgers 9-5 Friday at the FGCU/Four Points Sheraton Softball Invitational in Fort Myers. The Panthers finish the day with a split, a 9-4 record, with two more days and three more games for the weekend.
 
Texeira tied Ashley McClain (2009-2012) for the all-time FIU lead with 33 homers.
 
Sophomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) started off the bottom of the first with an infield single. She has a hit in six-straight games. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, Texeira walked before an RBI single from junior Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Florida / Palm Beach Central) pushed across Schoff for the first run of the game. A single later in the inning from freshman Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) drove in Texeira and FIU was off and running.
 
Texeira's homer was part of a four-run second inning for FIU. A walk to Jessica Soto (Oxnard, California) started the frame before a second single with one out by Schoff. The first run came in on a double steal, then senior Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) reached on a bunt RBI single and Texeira finished the scoring with a home run out to center field.
 
Leon drove in two with a bases-loaded single in the third after a single and two walks in the frame as the Panthers started out 8-0.
 
Rutgers avoided the shutout with a run in the fifth, and both teams scored in the sixth inning. The Scarlet Knights produced a two-run homer, while FIU got its final run of the afternoon with an RBI single from redshirt senior Dani Mowry (Cocoa, Florida / Space Coast HS), her first run driven in this season.
 
Rutgers scratched across two in the seventh for the game's final margin.
 
Sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) got her third win (3-1) of the season to tie for the team lead. She scattered 10 hits and two walks in the complete-game effort, striking out five. Four of the five runs charged to her were earned. 
 
Schoff, Leon and Texeira all recorded two hits each. Texeira scored three runs to lead all players. Leon tied for the game-high with a season-best three RBI.
 
The Panthers will play two games in Fort Myers on Saturday afternoon, starting with Boston College, with a scheduled start time of 3:45 p.m. FIU will face Hofstra in the nightcap at FGCU, with a start time of 8:15 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/.