FORT MYERS, Florida (February 26, 2017) -- With her first swing of the day, FIU senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) broke the program's career home run record by hitting the 34^th of her four-year career and the Panthers never lost the lead in a 6-1 softball win at FGCU Sunday. The game was the final contest of the 2017 FGCU / Four Points Sheraton Invitational in Fort Myers. FIU improves to 11-5 on the season, after its third-straight winning weekend (3-2 in Fort Myers).
 
After a walk and an infield single, Texeira took a 2-1 pitch out to right to set the new mark, held by Ashley McClain (2009-12), which she tied Friday night against Rutgers. Those are her first two homers of 2017. Texeira is now just five RBI away from that school mark (also held by McClain, at 161).
 
One of the baserunners Texeira drove in was senior Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep), who scored the game-high total of three runs after collecting two hits. The third multi-hit game for FIU came from catcher Julia Gilbert (Rialto, California), who collected a pair of hits.
 
Texeira scored on a throwing error in the second and freshman Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) hit a sacrifice fly to score Leon in the fourth for the Panthers' final run of the game.
 
The Eagles avoided the shutout with a single and a double in the sixth, two of the squad's four hits for the game.
 
Sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) got the win to improve to 4-1. She only gave up four hits and one walk with the one earned run. She struck out three Eagles.
 
The loss went to FCGU starter Morgan White, who allowed nine hits and seven walks. Four of the six runs charged to her were earned. She struck out six.
 
The Panthers will play next weekend at the Citrus Classic II at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex just outside of Orlando. The first game of the weekend will be Friday afternoon, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. versus Chattanooga on Field 14. FIU will stay on that field and face Mercer at 5:45 p.m. to complete the day.

#######
 
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/.