MIAMI — FIU's softball program notched two more wins on Saturday at the Panther Invitational, downing Incarnate Word 3-2 and defeating Eastern Illinois 7-4, advancing the Panthers to their home tournament's Championship game on Sunday morning.
FIU improved to 13-2 overall with wins over UIW and EIU on Saturday, securing its best-ever start through 15 games in program history. The Panthers eclipsed their previous mark of 12-3 through 15 games set back in 2001, when FIU won 44 games, its second-most in program history.
INCARNATE WORD
J'dah Girigorie (3-2) stepped into the circle for the first time this weekend for FIU, facing off with Incarnate Word. With the tournament's No. 1 seed on the line, the Panther offense struck early with a two-out RBI from Janelle Martinez to score Leah Clark. FIU led 1-0 after one, but UIW evened the score at 1-all in the top of third with an RBI single.
The Panthers wasted little time, however, taking the lead for good in the bottom of the frame with a two-out RBI single from Kennedy Byrd to go up 2-1. Clark doubled in the fifth to provide insurance for Girigorie, scoring Kally Meredith for a 3-1 advantage. In a true pitcher's duel, UIW mustered a run in the final frame, but Girigorie got back-to-back outs with runners on to seal the win for FIU.
Offensively, Meredith led the way with three hits in four at-bats, scoring twice. In total, FIU had 10 hits off of UIW's pitching and hit .385 as a team in the game. Girigorie went the distance, securing the complete game victory while scattering nine hits and allowed two earned runs, striking out six on 84 pitches. This was Girigorie's third complete game victory of the season and her six strikeouts are her most since she struck out nine in her FIU debut on Feb. 5 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The win for the Panthers secured them as the one-seed in the semifinal round, pitting them against four-seed Eastern Illinois.
EASTERN ILLINOIS
Meagan Villazon (2-0) started for the Panthers in FIU's semifinal matchup with EIU. Eastern Illinois plated three runs in the first with a three-run homer, handing FIU its first deficit of the weekend. The Panthers never blinked, however, pushing across runs in the first and second to pull within one. Clark produced the first FIU run with a sacrifice fly in the first to score Meredith, who led off with a triple. Kaleena Downing knocked in Riley Silvers in the second for her second RBI of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
EIU struck for one more in the fourth, taking a 4-2 lead to the bottom half, which set the stage for FIU's offensive explosion in the fourth. Sammy Zelenka led off with a single before Silvers stepped to the dish and crushed a two-run homer to left field, the first of her career, tying the game at 4-4. With two outs in the frame, Meredith walked and stole second to get into scoring position. Clark delivered in the next at-bat with an RBI single, scoring Meredith to give FIU a 5-4 lead. Byrd then got in on what ended as a five-run fourth inning with a two-run homer to left, her first of the season, putting the Panthers up 7-4 after four.
Villazon allowed just two baserunners in the final three innings to EIU and kept the Panthers off the board to finish off the win for FIU. Villazon's final line read 7.0 innings pitched with five strikeouts, allowing four earned runs (all in the first four innings) and four hits on 116 pitches.
Offensively, Meredith, Silvers and Byrd each had two hits. Clark, Byrd and Silvers had two RBI a piece. Meredith is now riding a 10-game hitting streak.
UP NEXT
The Panthers face Incarnate Word in the Panther Invitational Championship Game at 11:30 a.m. on Felsberg Field at Baptist Health Stadium. Fans can follow along live via video on ESPN+ and live stats at fiusports.com/WatchSB and fiusports.com/SBStats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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