Panthers Are Tamed in Home Opening Invitational

Bryan Palacio


The FIU softball team had the game-tying or winning batter in the final inning in four of their five games, but couldn’t capitalize and dropped to a 1-4 record to open the season in the Panther Invitational.
FIU finished fourth on the final day of the invitational at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, facing the University of Kansas, Georgetown University and North Carolina State University Feb. 8 through Feb. 10. The Panthers lost the first game to Kansas, won the second against Georgetown and finished with three straight losses, two to NCSU and the final against Georgetown, placing them last in the season opening tournament.
“I didn’t think we played very well,” said Head Coach Jake Schumann. “We didn’t execute on our strategy, hits or bunts; we have to try to score earlier in the game.”

softball

(Jasen Delgado-FIUSM)

Hitting was a low point after FIU was shut out twice and failed to score more than four runs in any of the five games. One game, the second against NCSU, even ended on a mercy rule, where if a team is down by eight or more runs after the fifth inning the game is stopped. This game was the latter of a back-to-back loss, following a very disheartening 1-0 loss to the same team.
The team had a collective .204 battering average over the weekend, far from their goal of .300. It included a dismal .083 against NCSU and .130 against Georgetown. Their best hitting game of the tournament came in the first game against Kansas, where they recorded a respectable .321 average.
The pitching had problems of its own. The staff gave up a batting average over .300 in three out of the five games, including two games where the opposition hit .467 and .393. In those two games, combined, they gave up over 27 hits. Junior Mariah Dawson finished with an 0-2 record, sophomore Shelby Graves went 0-1 while freshman Corinne Jenkins recorded the sole win going 1-1.
“We needed better pitching,” said Schumann. “We threw some down the middle and they took advantage of it. We threw way too many pitches. I wasn’t very happy with these games.”
The players could not be reached for comments.
However, among the frustration lied some very significant play. Freshman Aleima Lopez had her first collegiate home run in her very first at bat against Kansas, a storybook beginning for one of FIU’s most promising young talents. “You only get one chance to do that. Your first time on national stage, the media puts a lot of behind it, it’s a big deal,” said Schumann. “Both of those freshmen are very tough, they don’t play like freshmen; they’re not freshmen to me.”

Jenkins also recorded her first win on her first start while Graves recording her first save. Senior Brie Rojas hit her first homerun of the season, a three-run homer over center field. Jenkins’, Graves’ and Rojas’ achievements all occurred during the same game against Georgetown.


Fortunately, the team won’t have to wait long to get the bad taste of losing out of their mouths. The Panthers will look to bounce back in a double-header against Florida Gulf Coast University today at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.