HATTIESBURG, MIss. (May 10 2017) -- FIU Softball begins its quest for its first Conference USA Tournament Championship Thursday when the Panthers host either Charlotte or Louisiana Tech, starting at 5:30 p.m. Eastern from the USM Softball Complex in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The opening game of the tournament between WKU and UAB lasted nearly five hours, pushing the contest between the 49ers and Lady Techsters late into the night on day one Wednesday. 
 
The Panthers had to win the final six games to leap over LA Tech and into the two seed, which came with a double bye, a pass through day one and into Thursday, which starts double-elimination.
 
Regardless of outcome, the Panthers will only play the one game on Thursday.
 
FIU was 1-1 against the 49ers this season while sweeping LA Tech in the final weekend of play.
 
Earlier this week, freshman Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) was named the C-USA Softball Freshman of the Year, a first-team pitcher and to the all-freshman team. She posted the third-best rate in hits allowed per seven innings (3.24) in the country, and led the league in earned run average (1.46, 30^th in the NCAA), shutouts (8, tied for 15^th nationally), saves (4, tied for 18^th in Division I), opponent batting average (.140) and strikeouts per seven innings (8.35, 24^th in the country), while finishing second in total strikeouts (215) and third in victories (17).
 
Senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) earned First-Team All-C-USA honors in the infield, giving her four All-Conference USA selections in her career. She led Conference USA with eight homers in league games only, setting a new personal record with 14 home runs for the season, third-most in C-USA. FIU's only other C-USA Freshman of the Year (2014), Texeira is the only league performer to record at least 40 runs, 50 RBI and 40 walks in the regular season. She led Conference USA with 50 RBI, finishing second with a .530 on-base percentage, 44 walks and tying for fourth with 48 runs.
 
Sophomore Jackie Schoff (Brandon, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) earned First-Team All-C-USA honors in the outfield in 2017, the first outfielder to achieve the C-USA honor at FIU. Schoff broke the FIU single-season record with a .448 batting average this season, finishing second in Conference USA and sitting 10^th in the NCAA. She led C-USA in runs per game (1.11), also 10^th in the nation. Schoff is just behind Texeira in on-base percentage (.518), 27^th-highest in the country.
 
The opponent will be determined after the late game finishes on Wednesday night. The Panthers have never been as high as a number-two seed since joining Conference USA and are 0-2 in the tournament. FIU is 8-3 all-time against Charlotte and have never lost to LA Tech in eight previous meetings, including 1-0 in tournament play as members of the Sun Belt Conference. 
 
A win by the Panthers would advance them into the Friday semifinal at 1 p.m. A Thursday loss means having to play twice to survive, starting at 3:30 p.m. The final game is a winner-take-all final at 1 p.m. Saturday, televised live on CBS Sports Network.
 
Live video and stats links will be generated once the opponent is determined and will be posted on FIUSports.com by Thursday morning.

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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/.