MIAMI (April 30, 2017) -- For the second time in program history, FIU softball reached the 40-win plateau as the Panthers completed a sweep of visiting WKU in Conference USA softball action Sunday after a 4-2 series finale win at Felsberg Field and FIU Softball Stadium. The Panthers, with one series to go to complete the regular season, are 40-12 on the year and 14-6 in C-USA play. WKU falls to 26-26 overall and finishes with a 10-13 league mark.
 
Freshman pitcher Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) completed an amazing weekend, striking out nine in the complete-game effort. The two runs in the first inning charged to her were unearned and she finished with two walks. She got the win to improve to 15-8 on the year, but secured two wins and a save in the weekend series.
 
After allowing a lead for the first time all weekend, allowing WKU to score two runs on two errors in the first frame, the Panthers got an unearned run back in the bottom of the first. Senior Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) lifted a sacrfice fly to left to score sophmomore Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) and cut the lead in half after one.
 
The Panthers turned it on in the second, plating three runs in a frame for the third time in the series. After a walk and a fielder's choice that did not result in an out, a groundout kept runners at the corners with one out for senior Ashley Leon (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep), who singled her way on with essentially a swinging bunt in front of the plate to drive in a run. Leon stole second to get into scoring position for Texeira, who dropped a line-drive single in center to drive in two more runs.
 
Saile allowed only two more runners after the first inning for the win.
 
Texeira had three RBI to lead all players, while Leon was 3-for-4, finishing the weekend 6-for-10, leading all players in the series in hits and average.
 
In 15.2 innings combined in the three games, she struck out 25 Lady Tops and held WKU to a team batting average of 0.063 when she was in the circle. She held WKU to one hit in the series opener Saturday and only two hits in the series finale. She also allowed her only two walks of the weekend on Sunday. In her last six appearances (one start and one relief), Saile is 5-0 with one save and no earned runs. In that stretch of 34.2 innings, she has struck out 42, walked eight, allowed 10 hits and an opponent batting average against of .090, with five complete games and two shutouts. Saile moved into fifth at FIU for single season strikeouts, with 195. She is 10 away from second all time in a season in her freshman campaign.
 
The Panthers have won seven-straight home games, sitting with a 21-2 home mark in 2017.

The school record for wins is 44, set in 2001. No other Panthers squad has reached the 40-win plateau.
 
FIU will host West-division-leading LA Tech next weekend to wrap up the regular season. The series starts Friday, with an afternoon doubleheader at 2 p.m. The series concludes Saturday at noon. The will need three wins to get the number-two seed and a double bye in the upcoming Conference USA Championships.

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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/.