Richard Gibson / Sports Director
The FIU Softball team began their 2021 season with three straight wins in the Felsberg Invitational against the Florida Atlantic Owls and Winthrop Eagles this past weekend.
On Friday, game one of the doubleheader against FAU ended in a high-scoring 7-5 contest. For the first two innings of play, the scoreboard was empty. The Owls scored first in the top of the third inning, with three runs off of two doubles. FIU responded with a run of their own to shorten FAU’s lead to 3-1.
The Owls then scored two runs in the third and fourth innings before FIU broke the game open with three unanswered runs in the fifth, including an RBI by first baseman Kayla Whitehead and a single from shortstop/second baseman Jocelyn Alonso. An error by FAU drove in center fielder Brittany Phillips for one more run in the sixth, and FIU finished the game with a 7-5 win.
Game two on Friday against Winthrop was a more clear-cut win for the Panthers, despite the Eagles scoring first with a home run in the second inning. FIU responded with five runs in the third inning, then three more in the fourth, and one more for in the sixth inning to take a dominant 9-1 win.
In the third inning, second baseman Venessa Gallegos, Alonso, and Garcia all hit singles to drive in runs, and a double by Gallegos ensured the fourth inning was locked for the Panthers. Against FAU, pitcher Kallie Jones came in late and secured the win for FIU, and pitcher Kendahl Dunford would seal the win for the Panthers against Winthrop.
The Eagles controlled Sunday’s match all the way until the seventh inning. They had scored a run in the second, third, and fourth innings to enter the seventh with a 3-0 lead.
However, the Panthers rallied with three outs left, starting with a two runs off a single by shortstop Jessica Rivera to cut the lead to 3-2. With two runners still on base, it was Gallegos who called the game for FIU with a walk-off home run out of left field to give the Panthers a 5-3 win.
With a 3-0 record, the Panthers sit in first place out of the six teams in the Eastern Division of Conference USA. Their next five games are in Fort Myers against the UCONN Huskies, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, and Northern Illinois Huskies.
On Friday, February 19th, FIU will play UCONN at 2:15pm, then FGCU at 7:30pm. North Illinois is up next on Saturday, February 20th at 11am, then a rematch against UCONN is at 4:15pm. The Panthers will cap off the road trip against Northern Illinois on Sunday, February 21st at 9am.
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