BOCA RATON (April 2, 2017) -- FIU softball got an early lead in an attempt to win a Conference USA series, but 10 walks allowed were too many to overcome as the Panthers lost 5-2 at Florida Atlantic Sunday. After splitting the Saturday doubleheader, the Panthers drop their first C-USA series of the season. FIU is now 31-8 overall, 7-2 in conference. FAU is now 24-12, also 7-2 after three weekends of league games.
 
After 27-straight wins when outhitting their opponent coming into the weekend the Panthers collected more hits than the Owls in all three games, holding FAU to just 11 hits for the weekend in the two losses.
 
FIU got on the board first as the first three Panthers got singles to start the second inning. A sacrifice fly from freshman Jessica Rivera (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) drove in Dani Mowry (Cocoa, Florida / Space Coast HS) from third to get the Panthers on the board first.
 
Senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) hit a towering home run to right in the third, a solo shot for her 41^st career big fly and a 2-0 FIU lead. Texeira led all players with five hits in the series, batting .556 for the weekend, also drawing an intentional walk Sunday.
 
The Owls made FIU pay for two walks, by tying the game on a double and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third.
 
FAU walked twice and hit an infield single in the fifth before a bases-loaded walk broke the tie game. A two-out double scored two more runs and the Owls never looked back.
 
FIU starter Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) lasted three innings, allowing just one hit, but walking six. She finished with three strikeouts, pushing her season total to 134 and into 14^th place for strikeouts in a season at FIU.
 
The loss went in relief to sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Space Coast HS), who allowed three hits and three walks in the final three innings. She struck out one batter and took only her second loss of the season (11-2).
 
The Panthers chased FAU starter Amanda Buckley from the game after one inning. Tatum Buckley moved from third to the circle and got her fifth win of the season (5-2). She held FIU to just two hits in the last six innings, allowing just the Texeira homer, one more hit in the sixth and two walks for the victory. She struck out two.
 
The Panthers will stay on the road for a third-consecutive C-USA weekend, at UTSA, for a Conference USA series in Texas. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. Eastern.

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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 the FIU Football 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/.