Panthers win four straight after loss

Jayda Hall/ Contributing Writer

The FIU softball team ,ranked sixth in Conference USA, started off its season playing against FSU (ranked 10th in the country and part of the ACC) on Friday, Feb. 12.

The Panthers managed to get eight hits, which was more than the Seminoles, who only managed to get seven. Still, the Seminoles came out on top ending the game with a final score of 7-1.

Both teams went the first two innings of the game without getting any home runs. It wasn’t until the third inning for FSU, when finally, a run was achieved. FIU junior outfielder, Gabby Spallone, scored a run for the team in the fourth inning. Unfortunately for FIU, it was the first and last run that they would score for the remainder of the game.

The game remained a tie at 1-1 until the sixth inning when FSU finally took the lead and scored a run in the sixth inning and then five runs in the seventh.

Although the Seminoles managed to score more than FIU, the runs weren’t easy to come across at the beginning, thanks to Corinne Jenkins, FIU’s senior starting pitcher.

“I think our pitcher played really well this game,” Head Coach Gator Rebhan, said. “We played six strong innings, and when you’re going against a team that is ranked 10th in the country, you can’t have a bad inning.”

FIU’s defense played well for the most part. During the first inning, Ashley Leon, junior infielder, struck out FSU when a Seminole tried to steal second base.

Aleima Lopez, senior center fielder, stood out in the game by contributing to the Panther’s hits. Lopez may have added onto FIU’s stats, but she thought that her performance could have been much better in order to beat the Seminoles.

“I never feel that I play my best unless we win a game,” Lopez said. “I think as a team we need to learn how to finish the innings and win every pitch because when we don’t that’s when everyone starts to get down.”

The Panthers hosted the Juiceblendz FIU Invitational, which began on Friday, Feb. 12 with FSU. The team played against four additional teams including Illinois, LIU Brooklyn, St. John’s and Valparaiso on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily for the Panthers, they won each game, and the team now holds a current record of 4-1.

Losing to the high-ranked Seminoles did more good than harm to the Panthers. The mistakes made while playing FSU, helped FIU come out strong against its rivals like Illinois, which is a part of the Big Ten Conference.

“We’ve been practicing since September, so they’re about ready as they’re going to get,” Rebhan said. “They have to continue to learn how to beat top teams.”

FIU will move on to play Holy Cross at 4:30 p.m., and Indiana at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19.