FIU’s softball team will compete against Louisiana Tech in the opening round of the Conference USA Championships on May 6. The game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. as part of a single-elimination format.
The Panthers, who are seeded sixth, qualified for the tournament for the first time since the 2023 season. They hold a record of 34-17 overall and went 16-11 in conference play. Their opponent, seventh-seeded Louisiana Tech, finished with a record of 29-23 and a conference mark of 15-12.
Earlier this season, FIU defeated Louisiana Tech two games to one during an away series in Ruston from April 10 to April 12. Kennedy Byrd hit three home runs that weekend and was named Conference USA Player of the Week on April 13. Byrd has continued her strong performance with another three-home run showing against Middle Tennessee last weekend, bringing her season totals to fourteen home runs and forty-nine runs batted in—both among the best single-season marks in program history.
Kally Meredith leads FIU offensively with a .456 batting average and seventy-eight hits this year. Janelle Martinez also contributed sixty hits and forty-four runs batted in so far this season. In pitching, Brooke McNichols holds a staff-best earned run average of 2.95 along with eight wins—seven by complete game—and J’dah Girigorie has been effective recently by allowing only two earned runs over eleven innings last weekend.
Louisiana Tech enters Wednesday’s matchup riding a seven-game winning streak after sweeping Liberty and UTEP at the end of their regular season schedule. Reagan Marchant leads their offense with seventeen home runs—the most in Conference USA—and forty-eight runs batted in, which ranks fourth-best league-wide.
The winner between FIU and Louisiana Tech will advance into double elimination play later that evening against Liberty at approximately 7:30 p.m.
