CHARLOTTE, N.C. – FIU Softball begins another quest for its first Conference USA Championship Wednesday when the No. 3 seed Panthers play No. 6 seed Middle Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. at Sue M. Daughtridge Stadium on the campus of the University of Charlotte.
 
Middle Tennessee defeated No. 7 seed North Texas, 1-0, in a game earlier in the day to advance.
 
Earlier this week, C-USA named three Panthers First-Team All-C-USA performers in sophomore pitcher Shannon Saile, junior outfielder Jackie Schoff and senior first baseman Kasandra Castle while sophomore shortstop Jessica Rivera earned All-CUSA Second Team honors and freshman second baseman Venessa Gallegos earned All-CUSA Freshman Team honors, the league announced Tuesday. The vote comes on the heels of the start of the 2018 Conference USA Championship, and the votes were by the league's 12 head coaches.
 
FIU took the series 2-1 against the Blue Raiders in Miami last month.
 
The winner of the game will face No. 2 seed UAB at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. FIU did not play the Blazers this season.
 
NOTABLES
• FIU 2-3 in the C-USA Championship falling to Louisiana Tech, 1-0, in the 2017 C-USA Championship game.
• FIU won five of its last six C-USA series, splitting the regular-season finale with WKU, 1-1.
• The Panthers lead Conference USA in fielding percentage (.971), ERA (2.49), opponent batting average (.223), pitching strikeouts (359).
• FIU has hit multiple homers in a game nine times this season (9-0 record), with Castle, Rivera & Texeira the only Panthers to hit two in a single game.
• Shannon Saile enters the C-USA Championship coming off a 12-strikeout outing against WKU. It was the seventh time this season she's had 12 or more strikeouts in a game and 13th time with 10 or more strikeouts in the game.
• Shannon Saile has four games with 15 or more strikeouts, which is tops in the NCAA including a career-high 18 in a win over FAU.
• Senior first baseman Kasandra Castle led the team in C-USA games hitting .406.
• Junior outfielder Jackie Schoff earned All-CUSA honors for the third straight season in the outfield and her second straight All-CUSA First Team selection. Schoff led the team again hitting .361 and now ranks second in FIU in career batting average (.383).
• Shannon Saile broke the FIU school record for single-season strikeouts with nine punch outs in the series finale against Charlotte. Saile has 259 strikeouts. Saile also broke the FIU game record for strikeouts while she recorded 18 strikeouts against FAU.
• FIU heads into the 2018 C-USA Softball Championship No. 56 in the NCAA Women's Softball RPI. The Panthers are the highest RPI team in C-USA having picked up a win at No. 4 Florida. FIU is 2-1 against the Top 15, which includes a win against No. 11 South Carolina. FIU is 4-4 against the Top 35 with two wins over No.33 FGCU included. FIU also faced No. 21 Louisiana and No. 22 Hofstra.
• FIU produced three First-Team All-C-USA performers in sophomore pitcher Shannon Saile, junior outfielder Jackie Schoff and senior first baseman Kasandra Castle while sophomore shortstop Jessica Rivera earned All-CUSA Second Team honors and freshman second baseman Venessa Gallegos earned All-CUSA Freshman Team honors.
• Senior infielder Michaela Mills is a four-time Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member and four-time Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal winner. A biomedical engineering major with a 3.91 GPA, Mills earned the FIU Academic Excellence Award at the annual FIU banquet in 2018, graduated this spring and is headed to medical school.
• FIU has won 14 of its last 18 games which includes a five-game win streak. During the stretch, FIU is hitting .309 and posting a 1.74 ERA holding opponents to a .215 batting average.
• Junior outfielder Jackie Schoff ranks second all-time in FIU history in career batting average (.383) and on-base percentage (.425).
• Sophomore pitcher Shannon Saile has 499 career strikeouts, which is third all-time. The FIU record holder is Amanda Nealer with 620 strikeouts. Saile owns the top two single-season marks in FIU history with 259 this season and 240 during her freshman campaign. 
  
Up Next
A win by the Panthers would advance them into the Thursday quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m. against UAB, as the championship format would switch to double-elimination.