CHARLOTTE (April 21, 2017) -- FIU Softball plays its final Conference USA road series this weekend up in Charlotte to take on the 49ers Saturday and Sunday at the Phillips Softball Complex. The Saturday doubleheader starts at 1 p.m., while the Sunday finale has a noon first-pitch scheduled time. 
 
FIU sits at 36-11 overall, 10-5 in C-USA play this season. The Panthers have won four in a row, including a series victory last weekend over first-place Marshall. FIU dispatched visiting FGCU in a Wednesday doubleheader by scores of 3-1 and 4-1 to complete the win streak. 
 
Charlotte is 24-19 in 2017, 6-9 in C-USA action. After losing the Friday doubleheader at WKU last weekend, the 49ers rallied for a 2-0 win in the series finale, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. At home in league action, Charlotte was swept by Marshall, but won all three games against North Texas. The 49ers also have lone wins against LA Tech and Florida Atlantic, but only have the NT series victory. Charlotte is 15-3 at home this season.
 
FIU is sixth in the league with a .289 batting average, but are second with a .387 on-base percentage. FIU is second in the league in hits (352) and runs (239). Sophomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) is second in the league with a .450 batting average, third with a .525 on-base percentage and 41 runs scored and sixth with 54 hits. These rankings despite missing 10 games this season.
 
The Panthers lead the league with a 1.80 ERA and a .976 fielding percentage. FIU holds the third-, fourth- and fifth-lowest individual ERA totals in the league and are the only team in Division I with three pitchers at 10 wins or more. Sophomore Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) is third in C-USA with a 1.77 ERA and is tied for the team lead with 12 wins.  Freshman Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) is fourth in the league with a 1.78 ERA and is tied with Kugelmann with 12 wins. Sophomore Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) is fifth with a 1.88 ERA and advanced to an 11-0 record with a win on Wednesday.
 
Saile leads the league with a .154 opponent batting average, while Summers is fifth, at .215 and Kugelmann sits 12^th, at .252 for the season. FIU leads the league with a .202 opponent batting average.
 
Charlotte is third in the league with a.300 team batting average and .431 slugging percentage, thanks to 55 doubles, third-most in conference. One of the biggest offensive threats in the league is Haley Pace. Pace is second in C-USA with a .847 slugging percentage, 59 hits and 13 home runs, tied for second with five triples and tied for sixth with 10 doubles. She is tied for third with 41 runs scored and tied for fourth with 37 RBI.
 
The 49ers are ninth in ERA, sitting at 3.56 for the season. 49ers pitcher Haley Wiseman got the shutout win over WKU, not allowing a hit until the final inning in the shutout victory. Wise is second in the league with 188 strikeouts and fourth with a .210 opponent batting average. 
 
FIU has beaten Charlotte in the last four meetings, holding a 7-2 all-time mark in the series. The Panthers swept the 49ers in Miami last season to start conference play. FIU won two out of three in the only previous series played in the Queen City, to finish the 2015 season. 
 
The Panthers will finish the season with two home C-USA weekends, hosting WKU and LA Tech to round out the regular season.
 
Live stats and video links for this weekend are available at FIUSpots.com.
 

#######
 
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/.