MIAMI (April 14, 2017) – FIU Softball lost by the slimmest of margins in a well-played game-one Friday at Felsberg Field and FIU Softball Stadium, dropping a 2-1 decision to visiting Marshall in Conference USA action. The top-two teams in C-USA both came in with identical 32-win seasons and Marshall emerged victorious in the opening game despite having fewer hits in the contest. FIU falls to 32-11, 8-5 in C-USA. Marshall is now 33-5, 15-1 in league games. The loss was only the second in 16 home FIU games this season.
FIU scored first on a bunt single in the third when senior
Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) got the hit to bring in junior
Araceli Peralta, who had walked to lead off the inning.
Marshall tied the game with a run on two hits after a leadoff double dropped between fielders in the 20-miles-per-hour wind gusts in the fourth.
The Thundering Herd got the go-ahead run after a walk and a line-drive double off the center field fence in the sixth.
In each of the last five FIU losses, the Panthers had more hits than the opponent. In this game, FIU outhit the Herd 6-5.
FIU freshman
Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) went toe-to-toe with the league's leading strikeout pitcher, senior Jordan Dixon, and fared well. Dixon struck out two and walked six and allowed six hits, but got her 24
th win of the season (24-4). Saile punched out seven Herd batters, allowing just three walks and four hits, but took the hard-luck loss (10-8).
FIU stranded nine runners on base, while the Hard left just three on. Leon and FIU sophomore
Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) were the only players with two hits in the game.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
