Game Details
FIU 4, St. John's 1
WP: Shannon Saile (1-0)
LP: Madison Morris (0-1)
Records: FIU 1-0, St. John's 0-2
Friday, February 9 | 1:30 p.m. | Miami | Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium
 
The Basics

• Last year's Conference USA Freshman of the Year, sophomore Shannon Saile (Land O' Lakes, Florida / Land O' Lakes HS), struck out a career-high 15 batters as FIU won its season-opening game 4-1 over St. John's Friday. The game was the third of the day at the Felsberg Invitational at Felsberg Field and FIU Softball Stadium.
• FIU opens 1-0, dropping St. John's to 0-1
• It was the eighth game of Saile's career in which she reached double-digit punchouts. Last season, she tied the school record with 240 for the season.
• FIU staked Saile to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third, when senior Kasandra Castle (Lake Worth, Florida / Palm Beach Central) pushed across two runs with a two-out single through the right side, scoring both Jackie Schoff (Bradenton, Florida / Lakewood Ranch HS) and Tatyana Forbes (Redmond, Washington) for the first runs of the game.
• With the bases loaded in the fifth and one out, Castle was hit by a pitch to drive in her third run of the day, which was followed by a walk to junior Natalie Orcutt (Peachtree City, Georgia) for a 4-0 lead.
• A stolen base sandwiched between two singles resulted in the only run of the day for St. John's in the sixth inning.
• Schoff finished with a game-high two hits and runs scored.
• Castle had six games with three-or-more RBI last season. She was tied for second with 40 RBI in her first season at FIU in 2017.
• Saile allowed a run on four hits and two walks.

 
Stat of the Game
After not striking out any batters in the fourth, Saile recorded strikeouts in eight of her last nine outs, including strikeouts in her final six outs of the contest.
 
Next up for FIU
The Panthers take on Hofstra at 6:45 p.m. to finish day one of the Invitational.  
 
For softball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
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