FIU softball completes regular season with a three-game sweep of UTEP
FIU softball finished its regular season with a series shutout against the UTEP Miners this past weekend on Sunday in El Paso.
The three-game shutout against UTEP propelled the Panthers (24-26) to their best regular-season record since 2019.
Before the start of the first game in the series, second-year head coach Mike Larabee made the team’s road trip priorities clear.
“Two biggest things [are] gaining momentum heading into the Conference USA tournament and doubling the win total from last year,” said Larabee.
The Panthers did just that in the first game, winning a hard-fought contest as they clawed back from a two-run deficit to defeat UTEP 6-5 in the final inning.
The Panthers carried the momentum from the first game, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead behind home runs from Ashton Lansdell — her sixth of the season — and Ella Whitney.
At the end of three innings, UTEP tied the score 3-3, but FIU scored six in the fourth inning to take a 9-3 lead.
The final score of the Panthers’ Game 2 victory was 10-8.
In the series finale, UTEP claimed an early 5-3 advantage, but could not hold on. FIU completed the sweep with a 6-5 victory.
Despite the rocky start, Larabee saw the struggles as a sign of the team’s growth and ability to handle setbacks.
“Today was just a prime example. We ended up getting ahead and then they came back, we had a really rough third inning. But what was really neat about today is that we faced some adversity,” said Larabee.
“I use the analogy that we lost one of the wheels on the wagon and we weren’t in a good situation. But our team has matured. We can bleed a little bit but we can’t bleed to death.”
FIU softball now has its eyes on a first-round matchup in the C-USA Tournament against Western Kentucky on Wednesday in Ruston, Louisiana.
“They’ve got a really good team, really good balance in their lineup,” Larabee said. “I told the team that I don’t care who we play because it doesn’t really matter. We beat Western Kentucky on Senior Night and we just have to worry about ourselves.”
BASEBALL
FIU hosted a three-game series with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers . The Panthers won the first game before dropping the final two games.
FIU won the opening game of the series 8-1 behind
stellar performances from Angel Tiburcio and Ryne Guida. Tiburcio pitched six innings and had six strikeouts while Guida recorded three RBI.
In the seond game, the Panthers could not convert and multiple scoring chances and wasted
great relief pitching from Bryan Pazos. FIU was unable to score and Western Kentucky won Game 2 7-2.
“We had baserunners going most of the game and we couldn’t get the big hit with two outs that we needed to,” coach Rich Witten said. “Pazos did a really nice job coming in for the middle part and holding it where it was to give our offense a chance to get back into it.”
In Game 3, FIU’s Alec Sanchez hit a solo home run in the first and the Hilltoppers scored in the second. Both offenses were held scoreless until the sixth inning when the Hilltoppers took a 3-1 lead.
Despite having runners in scoring position multiple times during the game, the Panthers couldn’t find the runs to come back as they lose 3-1 and drop the series 2-1.
Tennis
Freshman Oyinlomo Quadre becomes the first Panther in program history to take home both the Conference USA Freshman and Player of the Year awards in the same year, and the first to do it in the conference since 2012.
Hailing from Lekki, Nigeria, Quadre wasn’t allowed to play a competitive tennis match for six months due to additional paperwork.
With only a few days remaining before the team’s opening match against Liberty, Quadre got on the court and practiced to make up for lost time.
Despite her efforts, she fell in her first singles match, 3-6, 4-6.
A rocky start didn’t deter Quadre. Since then, she has been a standout player for FIU, leading the team in singles wins with 15 and remaining undefeated in conference play at the No. 3 spot, 3-0.
Quadre is also the only freshman on the team to record double-digit singles wins in the midst of a 13-match streak.
With her doubles partner sophomore Yasmine Kabbaj, Quadre has a 16-5 dual doubles record. The pair is currently ranked 89th in the nation and recorded a 14-5 record from the No. 2 position.
Quadre wasn’t the only Panther to receive recognition for their efforts this season. FIU as a team was well represented.
Kabbaj, who won Freshman of the Year last season, earned All-C-USA singles first-team recognition, All-C-USA doubles first-team honors alongside Quadre and Singles Player of the C-USA Championship.
Junior Salma Loudili and freshman Katerina Mandelikova earned spots on the All-C-USA singles second Team. Loudili also notched C-USA Newcomer of the Year.
Freshman Ekaterina Khairutdinova and graduate Kamila Umarova made the doubles first team, ranking as high as No. 44 during the season.
FIU rounds out the awards with Quadre, Mandelikova and Khairutdinova all placing on the All-Freshman team, giving the Panthers the most spots in the conference.
Brian Olmo is the Sports Director for PantherNOW. Richelieu Valery and Jaymz Cosme are staff writers.
Follow Brian Olmo, Richelieu Valery and Jaymz Cosme on Twitter at @Brian_Olmo11, @RichelieuWrites and @JaymzCosme.