RUSTON, La. —  FIU's softball program secured a Conference USA (CUSA) series victory on Sunday, claiming the final game of the three game set at Louisiana Tech, 5-3. 

The Panthers (28-13, 10-8 CUSA) outslugged the Bulldogs (22-21, 8-10 CUSA), courtesy of Kennedy Byrd's third homer of the series, and used timely hitting from the rest of the Panther offense to propel them to victory. FIU held a 4-0 lead after four innings and was able to fend off a late Louisiana Tech rally to secure its first road CUSA series win of the season. 

Byrd's homer was her 10th of the season, a solo shot in the third, making her the first Panther to have 10 homers in a season since Stephanie Teixeira hit 15 in 2017. In the game, Byrd went 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBI and two runs scored, reaching base safely in all four of her plate appearances. 

J'dah Girigorie (7-5) started and pitched admirably, throwing 6.0 innings while allowing three earned runs on 85 pitches. Brooke McNichols, who secured Game One of the series with a complete game victory, finished off the win with three outs in the seventh for her first save of the season. 

Janelle Martinez also had two RBI in the game while Leah Clark had two hits and two RBI. Offensively, FIU had 12 total hits and seven different Panthers had at least one hit in the game. 

FIU started the game well offensively as Clark gave the Panthers the lead with an RBI single in the first. After Byrd's solo shot in the third put FIU up 2-0, Byrd delivered her second RBI of the game in the fourth to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. In the next at-bat, Martinez cashed in with an RBI groundout to make the score 4-0 after four innings in FIU's favor.

Louisiana Tech scored one on a solo homer in the fifth, but Martinez answered once again the sixth with an RBI single, putting FIU up 5-1. In the seventh, Girigorie ran into a bit of trouble, allowing a solo homer, of which was followed by a walk. 

Following the Panther pitching change, McNichols allowed the inherited runner to score, but got the final three outs to preserve the win. 

UP NEXT
The Panthers have their final mid-week contest of the 2026 season on Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in Boca Raton, taking on Florida Atlantic. 

BAPTIST HEALTH
The 2026 FIU Softball season is presented by Baptist Health, The Official Sports Medicine Provider of FIU Athletics.

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