MIAMI (February 9, 2017) -- FIU softball begins the 2017 season at home, hosting the Felsberg Invitational. The three-day tournament suffered a setback when Seton Hall and Rutgers, two scheduled teams in the field, could not safely travel to Miami due to storms in the Northeast. That shortens the field to just three teams – FIU, Georgetown and Memphis. The three teams will all play one another in three games Friday and Saturday and FIU will face each team in what amounts to a Sunday home doubleheader Sunday at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
The Panthers finished 29-27 in 2016, including 18 home victories, and return Preseason All-Conference performer and senior first baseman
Stephanie Texeira. The former All-South Region and 2014 Conference USA Freshman of the Year is on pace to break the school records for home runs, RBI, walks, slugging percentage and batting average early in her final campaign. An influx of transfers and freshmen, eight in all, should bolster a solid offensive lineup which batted a Conference USA-leading .325 last season, and struck out a league-low 185 times. A young pitching staff (third-best 3.12 ERA with two freshmen in the rotation) is one year wiser and added High-School All-American Shannon Saile (2016: 18 wins, 0.78 earned run average and 269 strikeouts) to its ranks.
Georgetown brings a mix of fresh faces and seasoned veterans that look to improve on last year's 9-35 season, 3-14 in BIG EAST action. Leading the Hoya returners are senior Gabriella Elvina, junior Theresa Kane and sophomore Mallory Belknap. Belknap .320, Kane .310 and Elvina .280 are the leading returners in batting average. The addition of eight freshmen will provide depth at all positions.
Memphis finished the 2016 season with a 26-31 overall record in head coach Natalie Poole's fifth season at the helm. Memphis returns all but one starter as well as everyone in the circle. Seniors Lindsay Crowdus and Lindsey Stickrod led the team offensively last year with .308 and .305 batting averages, respectively. Stickrod led the team in hits with 54, doubles with 10 and was second on the squad with five home runs. Crowdus enters the 2017 season as the all-time batting average leader in Memphis history (.323). R-Senior Hannah Harrell set a school record with 27 stolen bases on 30 attempts in 2016. She enters the 2017 season just eight shy of tying the all-time record at Memphis. The Tigers return their leading hurler in Molly Smith. Smith finished the 2016 season with an 11-16 overall record in 149.0 innings pitched. She led the Tigers with 123 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA.
FIU will play at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and in both Sunday games, at 9:30 a.m. and noon. Live Stats for all games will be at FIUSports.com, with live video for FIU games on CUSA.tv Friday and 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/.
