MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (March 24, 2017) -- Due to the weather forecast in the area, this weekend's FIU at Middle Tennessee softball series has been moved up. The series will start tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern and finish, weather permitting, with a Saturday doubleheader starting at noon Eastern. This starts a nine-game stretch away from home for the Panthers, their longest in league play this season.
 
The Panthers (27-6, 3-0 C-USA) are riding a school-record 13-game win streak heading into the Conference USA series. The Panthers swept the Blue Raiders in a three-game series in Miami to conclude the regular season last May. FIU holds a 43-16 all-time edge in the series history, winning the last four in the series, eight of the last nine and 22 of the last 24, dating back to 2008, as both programs came from the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers beat the Blue Raiders 23-5 over the three games in Miami last season.
 
The Panthers are outscoring teams by an average of 5-1 in the win streak. Sophomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) leads the team with a .452 average during the streak, tying for the team lead with 14 hits in that span (she played in 10 of the 13 games) and has both of her team-leading triples in those contests. Schoff leads the league with 36 runs scored, is second in batting average (.455 overall) and on-base percentage (.526), while tied for the league lead with 45 hits.
 
Senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep), the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, leads the team with four homers, 12 RBI, 16 runs and nine walks during the win streak. Overall, she leads the league with 24 walks, tied for second in runs scored (31) while third in on-base percentage (.524). Texeira needs eight doubles to tie for the program's career record in that category. She already owns FIU career marks for home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks, and the three main percentages, batting, slugging and on-base.
 
FIU sports the league's best ERA, at 1.72, best fielding percentage, at .977, and the second-best batting average, .308, with a conference-high 33 games played.
 
FIU pitchers rank fourth, fifth and sixth in ERA, while freshman Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) leads the league with an opponent batting average of .161, second in batters struck out looking, at 33, and third in total strikeouts, at 117.
 
Sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) leads the team with a 1.62 ERA, while classmate Abby Summers is right behind, at 1.67 and Saile is third on the team and sixth in the league, at 1.82. Kugelmann and Summers are tied for the team lead with nine wins each. Summers is 9-0 on the season.
 
As she was last season, Precious Birdsong is still the most dangerous player for the Blue Raiders. She leads the team with a .439 average, fifth-best in C-USA, and 14 stolen bases, sixth-most by a league member. The Blue Raiders are seventh in batting average (.274), sixth in ERA (2.56) and fifth in fielding (.961) this season.
 
Live video and stats links are posted at FIUSports.com.

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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/.