MIAMI (April 18, 2017) -- FIU softball completes its brief home stand with a Wednesday doubleheader against in-state rival FGCU. These are the last non-conference games of the season for the Panthers, who returned to the "Others Receiving Votes" category in two polls this weekend after winning a weekend series against first-place Marshall at home Friday and Saturday.
 
The Panthers are now 34-11 on the season. FGCU is 21-21 on the season.
 
The Eagles have lost five-straight contests. Left fielder Kelsey Huff is in the top 10 nationally in hits (61) and triples (6). The Eagles have had trouble collecting hits, sitting with a .269 batting average for the season. 
 
The Panthers own a 14-7 all-time edge in the series against FGCU, winning the last three. The two teams met earlier this year on February 26, with the Panthers winning 6-1 in Fort Myers. In that game, senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) set the FIU record with her 33^rd career homer, a three-run homer to give FIU the lead for good in the contest. Her three RBI tied her season high in a game. She hit her 10^th homer last weekend to push her record mark to 42 for her career. 
 
The Panthers enter the twinbill with a .293 batting average, and a conference-leading 0.976 fielding percentage and 1.86 earned run average. The Panthers' fielding percentage puts them 15^th in the NCAA, while their ERA is 23^rd-best in Division I.
 
Sophomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) enters the doubleheader with a .447 batting average, third-best in Conference USA and 17^th in the country.
 
In the circle, the Panthers are the first team this season to get three different pitchers to 10 wins. Sophomores Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) and Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) have 12 and 10 wins each, while freshman teammate Shannon Saile got her 11^th win over Marshall. All four FIU pitchers sport an ERA between 1.81 and 1.91.
 
Live stats links are available at FIUSports.com

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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/.