MIAMI — Following a 6-0 weekend to open 2026, FIU's softball program will head north to Gainesville, Fla. to participate in the Florida Classic this weekend.
The Panthers will make their way to the Swamp for five games over a three-day span, Feb. 13-15. FIU will take on Marshall and Georgia Tech twice and also has a matchup against host-No. 5 Florida. The Panthers started their 2026 campaign on a high note with two wins over ACC-foe Louisville to highlight an impressive undefeated opening weekend. FIU received deserved recognition following its 6-0 start and is now ranked 17th in the D1Softball Top-25 Mid-Major poll.
J'dah Girigorie anchored a Panther pitching staff that was excellent all weekend, posting a combined 1.93 ERA. Girigorie led the way with two wins and two saves in four appearances for FIU, throwing complete games in both of her starts. Brooke McNichols tossed a gem of her own against Stony Brook, throwing a complete game, one-hitter in the victory.
Offensively, Zamya McBurrows racked up eight RBI and three extra base hits, including a grand slam for her first career homer against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Kennedy Byrd also had a solid weekend at the plate, hitting .529 with five doubles and six runs scored. As a team, FIU batted .380 and struck out just 11 times in 158 plate appearances while holding opponents to a .207 batting average.
SERIES HISTORIES
All-Time vs. Marshall: FIU trails 17-10
Home/Away/Neutral: 6-7/3-9/1-1
Last: Marshall def. FIU, 8-0, April 16, 2022
Streak: FIU L4
All-Time vs. Georgia Tech: First Meeting
Home/Away/Neutral: First Meeting
Last: First Meeting
Streak: First Meeting
All-Time vs. No. 5 Florida: FIU trails 12-4
Home/Away/Neutral: 0-1/4-10/0-1
Last: FIU def. Florida, 5-0, March 28, 2018
Streak: FIU W1
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 13 | FIU vs. Marshall | 10:30 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 | FIU vs. Georgia Tech | 1 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 14 | FIU vs. Georgia Tech | 9 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 14 | FIU at Florida | 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 15 | FIU vs. Marshall | 9 a.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
There will be no video streaming for any of the games this weekend at UF. All games will have live stats, of which links can be found on FIU's schedule page or simply by typing fiusports.com/SBStats into your web browser.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUSoftball), X (@FIUSoftball), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSoftball) for all the latest FIU softball news.
