MIAMI – The FIU softball team will look to continue its winning start to the season as it heads to Mexico for the Puerto Vallerta Challenge for five games beginning on Thursday and concluding on Saturday.
 
The Panthers will face Boise State, Illinois State, North Dakota State and BYU over the three-day stretch in Puerto Vallerta.
 
Puerto Vallerta Challenge Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 13
FIU (4-1) vs. Boise State (4-1), 11 a.m.
 
Friday, Feb. 14
FIU vs. Illinois State (1-4), 11 a.m.
FIU vs. North Dakota State (3-3), 1:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, Feb. 15
BYU (4-0) vs. FIU, 5 p.m.
Boise State at FIU, 8 p.m.
 
PANTHERS GO INTERNATIONAL: FIU will open play at the Puerto Vallerta Challenge with a single game on Thursday against Boise State beginning at 11 a.m. before following with a pair of games on Friday against Illinois State (11 a.m.) and North Dakota State (1:30 p.m.).
 
The Panthers conclude play on Saturday with a showdown against BYU (5 p.m.) and a second clash vs. Boise State (8 p.m.).
 
All of the games at the Puerto Vallerta Classic will air live on FloSports.
 
PANTHERS NO. 5 IN D1 SOFTBALL MID MAJOR POLL: The Panthers' 4-1 start last weekend at the Felsberg Invitational earned them the No. 5 spot in the D1Softball Mid Major Top 25 after week one.
 
FIU posted wins over Indiana, Iowa State and a pair over Stony Brook during the opening week of the season.  Liberty is the only CUSA school ranked ahead of the Panthers in the weekly rankings.
 
RUNNING AWAY: The Panthers stole a total of 17 bases over their initial five games to open the season last weekend at the Felsberg Invitational – an average of 3.40 per contest – which ranks eight nationally and first in Conference USA.
 
Kally Meredith and Collier Peaden – each with five steals – are tied for 10th among national leaders in stolen bases.
 
KENNEDY WITH SOLID DEBUT: Junior hurler Kennedy Byrd enjoyed a tremendous opening weekend in her debut for the Panthers as she tossed back-to-back complete games including a win over 2024 NCAA Regional qualifier Indiana and a shutout against Stony Brook.
 
She scattered eight hits and allowed three runs in the 4-3 win over the Hoosiers and limited the Seawolves to five hits and no runs in a 2-0 triumph.
 
Her two wins currently are tied for the top total in CUSA and are tied for 20th in the nation.
 
GREAT OPENING WEEKEND: The Panthers posted a 4-1 record during the opening weekend of the regular season last weekend at the Felsberg Invitational in Miami – which included a pair of wins over Power Four opponents.
 
FIU also went a perfect 3-0 in one-run games last weekend – which included a 4-3 win over Indiana in the season opener on Thursday night.  The Panthers followed the next day with a 7-6 victory that went eight innings over Iowa State.
 
The weekend also saw the Panthers blank Stony Brook 2-0 on Saturday afternoon before suffering their first setback against Iowa State by a 7-5 margin on Saturday evening.
 
FIU wrapped up the weekend with a 9-8 win over Stony Brook.
 
BEST START SINCE 2021: The Panthers' 3-0 start to the 2025 campaign marked its best since also posting a 3-0 start in 2021.
 
HOT STARTS AT THE TOP: Leadoff hitter Kally Meredith and her fellow speedster Collier Peaden are off to great starts entering this week's action in Mexico – with each boasting batting averages over .500.
 
Meredith is currently hitting .500 and has posted multiple hits in four of the first five games overall – and has hit safely in each of the first five contests.  She scored the winning run when she used her speed to race around all four bases on a throwing error in the 7-6 extra inning win over Iowa State last Saturday.
 
Peaden is hitting .571 overall entering the weekend and has tabbed multiple hits in three of the first five games overall.
 
NEWCOMERS MAKING THEIR MARK: Sophomore Kendall Catherwood enters the weekend with a hit in each of her five games last weekend as a member of the Panthers.  She tabbed a double and drove in three runs over five games last week.
 
Freshman Sammy Zelenka tabbed three run-scoring singles over four games during the season's opening weekend of action – including a pinch hit single in the bottom of the seventh that drove in the tying run to force the game to extra innings in an eventual 7-6 FIU win over Iowa State.
 
COACH LARABEE UPDATE: FIU head coach Mike Larabee was recently diagnosed with Myelofibrosis, a rare, chronic blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and will be stepping away from the program this season to focus on his health.
 
In his absence, associate head coach Mike Meyers will assume the duties of active head coach for the 2025 season.
 
Larabee has led the FIU softball program since the 2021 season and possesses more than two decades of collegiate coaching experience.
 
HONORING COACH LARABEE: The Panthers will wear patches on their games jerseys and t-shirts this season in support of Coach Larabee.
 
MEREDITH NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CUSA: sophomore outfielder Kally Meredith has been named to the 2025 Preseason All-Conference USA Team.
 
Meredith, who was a 2024 All-Conference USA and All-Freshman Team honoree, returns for her sophomore campaign after registering a .383 batting average during her rookie campaign - which ranked fifth in CUSA and 123rd nationally.
 
On the basepaths, she swiped 21 bases, which was the second-best total in the league and 65th in the nation.
 
Meredith recorded a total of 57 hits – which tied for the seventh-highest total in Conference USA.  She added 35 runs scored and 14 RBI as a freshman.
 
She tabbed a total of 17 games with multiple hits and only fanned nine times in 149 at bats – ranking as the fifth-toughest player to strike out in CUSA and 114th in the nation.
 
OUT TO PROVE THEM WRONG: The Panthers were picked to finish eighth in the CUSA Preseason Poll in a survey of the league's head coaches.  FIU received 35 votes in the poll – one point behind No. 7 UTEP and three points behind No. 6 Sam Houston.
 
Liberty was selected as the league preseason favorite by the coaches with 99 points and nine first-place votes, followed by Western Kentucky in second with 83 points.
 
WHAT'S BACK: The Panthers return a total of 11 position players from last season's squad including graduate outfielder Bailey Grossenbacher, who was honored with NCAA All-South Region and All-CUSA status last season after hitting .349 with seven homers, nine doubles and 30 RBI.
 
Also back is Kally Meredith, who recorded a .383 average to lead the Panthers along with a team-leading 21 stolen bases.  Collier Peaden also returns after posting a .340 clip a year ago in her first season with the program.
 
Senior outfielder Brooke McCann is also back after sitting out the entire 2025 season with a leg injury.
 
In the circle, the Panthers return a pair of hurlers in sophomore Jewelie Vanderkous and junior Brooke McNichols.  Vanderkous registered a 3.24 earned run average over 86.1 innings during her initial collegiate season.
 
McNichols returns following a sophomore season that saw her appear in 16 games and toss 32.1 innings.  Junior Megan Kruger also returns after missing 2024 due to injury.
 
WHAT'S NEW: The Panthers welcome a total of seven new players to the program in 2025 including five positional players and a pair of pitchers.
 
Jensen Luke (INF), Kendall Catherwood (UTL), Ciera Diaz (INF), Paige Miller (INF) and Sammy Zelenka (INF) join the program from a positional standpoint, while Kennedy Byrd and Caity Patterson both add to the arms in the circle for the Panthers.
 
UP NEXT: The Panthers return home to host their second tournament of 2025 with the Panther Invitational from Friday, Feb. 21 through Sunday, Feb. 23.
 
FIU will welcome Lafayette and Iowa to the three-team event, which will see the Panthers open play on Friday against the Leopards of Lafayette beginning at 12:30 p.m.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUSoftball), Twitter (@FIUSoftball), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSoftball) for all the latest FIU Softball news.