MIAMI (April 7, 2017) -- FIU softball finishes its three-week Conference USA road trip this weekend, with a three-game series at UTSA. The series with the Roadrunners begins Saturday afternoon, with a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern. The series concludes with a Sunday 2 p.m. Eastern finale. The two teams have only met once for a C-USA series, back in mid-April, 2014, in Miami. FIU won the day-one doubleheader 5-0 and 4-3, while losing the series finale in the last meeting between the teams, 8-5, on April 13.
 
The Panthers had won three league series in a row before dropping two of three at Florida Atlantic last weekend. FIU is 31-8 overall, 7-2 in C-USA. That 7-2 mark puts the Panthers in a tie for second in the East Division, but a better league mark than the entire West Division. FIU was receiving votes in two national polls on Monday. UTSA is 14-23 overall 4-8 in Conference USA. The Roadrunners are in a three-way tie for fourth in the West with that mark. UTSA is coming off its first conference series win of the year, beating UTEP twice at home last weekend. Their 7-6 loss in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader was in 10 innings. The Roadrunners lost Wednesday evening at home to Houston Baptist 5-3 in nine innings.
 
The Panthers lead the league with a 1.75 earned run average and 245 strikeouts and an opponent batting average against of .200. FIU's 31 wins and six saves also lead the league. FIU also leads C-USA in defense, with a .977 fielding percentage. The Panthers are second in runs scored, hits, home runs and on-base percentage, while fourth in the league with a team .299 batting average.
 
Despite missing eight games, sophomore Jackie Schoff (Brandenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) is still second in the league with a .455 batting average. She is second (.530) in on-base percentage, while senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) is third (.524) in that category, thanks to her league-leading 29 walks. Schoff's 37 runs are fourth-most in C-USA, while Texeira's 35 are tied for fifth. FIU junior transfer Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Florida / Palm Beach Central HS) is second in C-USA with 35 RBI.
 
The Panther pitching staff sports three of the top-six ERA numbers in the league. Sophomore Abby Summers (Weston, Missouri) is second with a 1.62 ERA. Classmate Megan Kugelmann (Merritt Island, Florida / Cocoa Beach HS) sits in a tie for fourth with a 1.75 ERA and freshman Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) is sixth, at 1.82. Saile leads the league in opponent batting average against (.155) and is third in strikeouts (137). Summers' three saves lead the league.
 
UTSA is second in C-USA in batting average (.312) and leagues the league with 326 hits. The Roadrunners are next to last in ERA (4.56) and opposing batting average (.291) following Wednesday's action.
 
A pair of Roadrunners, Celeste Loughman and Lindsey Stewart, are tied for third in the league with 52 hits. Stewart is eighth in the league with a .403 batting average, while Loughman sits tenth, with a .385 average. The Roadrunners do not have a pitcher in the top 12 in the league in ERA, batting average against or strikeouts.
 
Following the series, the Panthers return home for five games over the following week, starting with a three-game series with East-leading Marshall. The Easter-weekend series will play Friday-Saturday for the Holiday. FIU then hosts FGCU for a Wednesday twinbill on Wednesday the 19^th, starting at 5 p.m.

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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/.