MIAMI — The FIU softball team (6-5) returns to Felsberg Field this weekend for the first time in nearly two weeks, hosting the Panther Invitational that will see three games against Lafayette (0-3) and two more against Power Four foe, Iowa (6-3).
Panther Invitational Schedule
Friday, Feb. 21
12:30 PM: Lafayette @ FIU (live stats)
3 PM: Lafayette vs. Iowa
5:30 PM: Iowa @ FIU (live stats)
Saturday, Feb. 22
12:30 PM: Iowa @ FIU (live stats)
3 PM: Iowa vs. Lafayette
5:30 PM: Lafayette @ FIU (live stats)
Sunday, Feb. 23
10 AM: Lafayette @ FIU (live stats)
AWAY FROM HOME: The Panthers concluded their nearly two-week slate away from home with a 5-1 loss to No. 25 Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night. Kally Meredith tallied a pair of hits and scored a run. She enters this weekend hitting .421 on the season with hits in 10 of 11 games.
PANTHERS GO INTERNATIONAL: FIU completed a five-game slate in the Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Feb. 15, finishing with a 2-3 record that included wins over Boise State and Illinois State.
The 4-0, eight-inning win over Illinois State featured Brooke McNichols twirling a seven-inning gem, allowing just five hits and a pair of walks to pick up the win before Kennedy Byrd pitched a clean slate to finish it off. In fact, Byrd also produced the complete game win in the circle over Boise State.
PANTHERS NO. 24 IN D1 SOFTBALL MID MAJOR POLL: The Panthers are ranked 24th in the latest D1Softball Mid Major Top 25 through 11 games. It is the second-consecutive week FIU has appeared in the poll after checking in at No. 5 following the team's big opening weekend.
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.
The former JUCO standout at Louisburg, where she went 31-1 in her two-year career, is 3-2 with a 2.51 ERA to begin her time at the Division I level.
GREAT OPENING WEEKEND: The Panthers posted a 4-1 record during the opening weekend of the regular season 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 that weekend – which included a 4-3 win over Indiana in the season opener. 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 before suffering their first setback against Iowa State by a 7-5 margin.
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.
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 game 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's 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 will host the FIU Classic Feb. 28 through March 2, which will bring Eastern Illinois, Bradley, Saint Francis and Toledo to town for five more contests at Felsberg Field.
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