MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (March 25, 2017) -- Youth came through for FIU Softball as the Panthers won their 15^th-consecutive game after a 2-1 victory in game one of a Saturday doubleheader at Middle Tennessee in Conference USA action. FIU is now 29-6, with a 5-0 start in conference. The Blue Raiders are now 10-16 overall, 1-7 in C-USA.
 
Middle struck first with a run on the Blue Raiders' first hit of the game, a double off the center field fence. MT got a leadoff walk and sacrificed the runner out to second, with the double scoring the run for the lead in the second inning. It was their first run and lead of the three-game series.
 
Senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) answered right back, taking the first pitch of the third inning out to right to tie the score. It was her team-leading eighth home run of the season. Her last two home runs have led off the inning and it was her fourth homer to tie or take the lead in a game this season.
 
The tie score remained until the fifth, when a pair of freshmen got the Panthers in the lead. A one-out double from shortstop Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) became the game-winning run when third baseman Jocelin Soto (Oxnard, California) drove her in with a bloop single to left.
 
That was all the offense the league-leading Panthers pitching staff needed. Starter and sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) tossed five innings, scattering three hits and three walks, with just the one run against her. She struck out a season-high seven batters.
 
Fellow sophomore Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) tossed the last two innings to get her conference-leading third save of the season. Summers has not allowed a run in 10.1 innings of relief this season, giving up just four hits in that span.
 
The teams finish the series this afternoon, moving up the games to avoid storms approaching the region late Saturday.

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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/.