GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 20, 2017) -- The FIU softball season came to an end Saturday night, as the Panthers suffered a 5-0 shutout loss to Oklahoma State in the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The loss completed the FIU campaign at 46-15, setting school records for most wins, fewest losses and highest winning percentage (.754) in a single season.
After winning the first game in the elimination bracket by shutting out Florida A&M, 3-0, the Panthers ran out of energy and luck on the way to the loss. Temperatures stay in the low 90s with no cloud cover following yesterday's thunderstorms and FIU had to play and win twice to advance to the regional final tomorrow.
"It was a tough game," said FIU Head Coach
Gator Rebhan. "I think that Oklahoma State had a little more than us today. They played hard; I think we just ran out of gas."
Oklahoma State will face off again against host Florida Sunday, needing to win twice against the highest-seeded team in the tournament in order to advance to the Super Regional round next weekend. The Cowgirls are 37-24 this season.
Sophomore
Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) was the bright spot offensively for FIU. She had both Panthers hits, including a leadoff triple in the first inning. Her two hits ended her 207 campaign with a team-leading batting average of .439, five points from the single-season record at FIU.
"To our seniors, we have big shoes to fill," said Schoff after the game. "This is one of those seasons where we've broken records for the school, and had the most wins at the school. It's crazy, and to think that we had so many new girls coming who stepped up, we only have room to grow. We do have a lot to do still."
The Cowgirls put up a run in the second inning off of FIU starter
Shannon Saile (Land O'Lakes, Florida / Land O'Lakes HS) after the first four hits of the day. Saile walked three in the fourth and gave up an RBI infield single and a two-RBI single through the right side to open up the game.
After Schoff's two-out single in the third, the last 13 Panthers were retired to end the contest.
Saile pitched four innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs, the most she has allowed since April 9. Her final ERA is 1.51 with a 19-11 record. Saile struck out two to tie the single-season record of 240, which she now shares with Kasey Barrett.
"Anytime you get 46 wins in a Division I program, it's a big accomplishment," added Rebhan. "We beat some great teams and I think everybody around now sees that FIU is very successful. We have a tough program, we have a very young team and we've got some great players coming in. Talent wise, we're going to be right there with anybody."
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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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and 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/.
