This player will be a key member of the FIU Panthers softball team

The FIU softball program suffered a body blow in July, when star pitcher Shannon Saile transferred to the Oklahoma Sooners, who have won three national titles in the past six years.

FIU had perhaps the best season in program history in 2017, setting school records for most wins (46), fewest losses (15) and best winning percentage (.754). The Panthers finished fifth in the nation in fielding percentage (.977) and 14th in ERA (1.77), advancing all the way to an NCAA regional before losing to Oklahoma State.

But the Panthers slumped to 30-25 last season, and coach Gator Rebhan and FIU agreed to part ways.

Saile, who set a school snigle-season record with 267 strikeouts last year, is now a member of the Sooners, who are ranked fourth in the nation as they prepare for what could be another deep playoff run. They had a remarkable 57-5 record last year.

FIU’s program, meanwhile, is being run this season by interim coach Heather Gelbard, who won two state titles as a player at Miami Palmetto, and she was also a four-year starter and an All-ACC performer at North Carolina State. She graduated summa cum laude, earning Academic All-America honors as well as a degree in psychology.

As a coach, she was an assistant at Florida Atlantic for seven years and an assistant for two years at Barry (where she earned a master’s degree). She also served for two years as head coach at Maryland-Baltimore County.

Now she’s back, and she would love to do well and have the interim label removed from her title at FIU.

“Being home in South Florida is a dream come true,” Gelbard said. “I think we have a well-rounded team.”

FIU will open its season on Friday by hosting a double-header against Memphis at 2:30 p.m. and Michigan State (7:15 p.m.).

The Panthers will be led by speedy center fielder Jackie Schoff, a 5-5 senior from Bradenton. She hit .358 as a freshman, .449 as a sophomore (third in Conference USA) and .356 as a junior. In three years, she has stolen 54 bases in 64 attempts.

“She’s our rock,” Gelbard said.

Another Panthers standout is Jessica Rivera, a junior shortstop from Miami Gulliver. Rivera led FIU last season with a .385 on-base percentage.

THIS AND THAT

▪ FIU’s men’s basketball team went 1-1 last week, losing to Southern Miss 89-73 and beating Louisiana Tech 75-69. Junior guard Trejon Jacob scored a season-high 24 points in the FIU win.

FIU (14-9, 5-5 Conference USA) hits the road this week for games at Texas-San Antonio on Thursday and at Texas-El Paso on Saturday. FIU is eighth in the league standings but just 2½ games out of first.

▪ Football coach Butch Davis will host a National Signing Day show on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Graham Center on campus. Davis will talk about FIU’s recruiting class, and the Bahamas Bowl trophy will be on hand for photos with fans.

Contact Walter Villa at wvilla07@yahoo.com.