MIAMI — FIU's softball program powered its way to two victories over UTEP on Saturday, securing the Conference USA (CUSA) series sweep.
The Panthers (22-5, 4-2 CUSA) outscored the Miners (9-16, 1-5 CUSA) by a combined score of 20-5 in the two contests on Saturday. FIU won Game One of Saturday's doubleheader 10-3 and then completed the weekend sweep with a 10-2 win in five innings in Game Two, extending the Panthers' win streak to four-straight.
FIU's home sweep in conference play is its first since the 2023 season, when the Panthers swept UTEP May 5-7 to close their regular season campaign. FIU's 22-5 start continues the program's best start in history and the Panthers are now 18-1 at home this season.
Game One
Kennedy Byrd (7-2) took the ball in the opening game of the day and was spotted an early lead by FIU's offense. Following a scoreless first from both teams, the Panthers exploded for seven second inning runs to take firm control of the contest.
Isabella Perez delivered a two-run single to open the scoring, putting FIU up 2-0. The Panthers did the rest of their damage with two outs in the inning as Leah Clark had a two-run single of her own to push the FIU advantage to 4-0. In the next at-bat, Byrd provided some more insurance for herself, launching a three-run homer deep to left field to cap the seven-run frame for FIU.
UTEP scratched three combined runs across in the fourth and fifth innings, pulling within four, down 7-3 after 5.5. FIU's resiliency showed once again as the Panthers answered with three combined runs in their at-bats in the fifth and sixth to go back ahead by a wide margin, leading 10-3 after six. Byrd gave way to Megan Kruger with two outs in the sixth, who was able to limit any further damage in the frame and finished off the win for FIU with a scoreless seventh inning.
In total, Byrd allowed three earned runs while striking out four in 5.2 innings of work, scattering eight hits on 93 pitches. Kruger needed just nine pitches to get the final four outs of the game, pitching 1.1 innings.
At the plate, Kally Meredith went 3-for-3 to lead the offensive charge and Janelle Martinez also had a multi-hit game, finishing with two hits and two RBI. As a team, FIU had 11 hits and seven walks with zero strikeouts.
Game Two
In the series finale, Meagan Villazon (7-0) delivered another solid performance in the circle, keeping the Miners off the scoreboard for the first four innings. Offensively, FIU got to work in the third inning as Byrd and Martinez delivered back-to-back RBI singles to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead after three. FIU plated two more in the fourth in identical fashion with RBI singles, this time from Meredith and Clark, to push the lead to 4-0.
Villazon allowed two UTEP runs in the top of the fifth, but managed to escape with a two-run lead still intact. The Panthers slugged their way to their second big inning of the day in the sixth, pushing across six runs to claim the walk-off win, 10-2, in five innings. Martinez served as the main catalyst in the frame, launching a solo homer, her first of the season, to get the scoring started and then later hustling to beat out a throw to first base, which providing the game-ending RBI single.
Following Martinez' big fly, Jensen Luke walked with the bases loaded to put FIU up 6-2. Meredith then cashed in with a two-RBI double to put the Panthers up 8-2. Byrd walked in another run for a 9-2 advantage, bringing Martinez to the plate for the second time in the inning for her walk-off heroics.
Martinez finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Meredith also had three RBI and scored twice, finishing off a weekend series in which she hit .900 overall and was retired just once in 11 at-bats. Kaleena Downing and Grace Helbling each had a hit for FIU.
As a team, the Panthers had 10 hits and five walks, striking out just three times in 24 at-bats. Villazon's final line read 5.0 innings pitched and two strikeouts, allowing two runs on six hits, with an efficient 59 pitches.
UP NEXT
The Panthers take on UCF, who is currently ranked 15th-nationally, for a non-conference clash on Wednesday, March 18 at home. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET from Baptist Health Stadium.
BAPTIST HEALTH
The 2026 FIU Softball season is presented by Baptist Health, The Official Sports Medicine Provider of FIU Athletics.
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.
