UCF clinched a share of the American regular season title while East Carolina and USF split a pair of games during softball action around The American on Saturday.
No. 17/15 UCF 6, Memphis 1
The UCF-Memphis series finale concluded with the Knights taking a 6-1 victory over the Tigers Saturday afternoon at Tiger Softball Complex. The win gave UCF (43-6 overall, 14-1 in The American) a share of the conference title. The Knights repeated as conference champions for the first time in program history after winning the inaugural league title in 2014.
A leadoff single put UCF’s Linnea Goodman on base in the first inning, and she gave the Knights a 1-0 lead after stealing home. In the top third Farrah Sullivan scored on a sacrifice fly and increased UCF’s advantage to 2-0. Brittany Solis also scored after getting on base with a hit in the top of the fifth, extending the Knights’ lead to 3-0. Memphis got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Hannah Harrell singled to get on base and eventually scored on Brittany Vaughn’s sacrifice fly to left field. Harrell went 2-3 at the plate and was the only Tiger to record multiple hits in the game.
UCF returns to action on Saturday with a single non-conference game against North Florida on Saturday, April 25 at the UCF Softball Complex. Memphis, now 14-27 overall and 2-10 in The American, will host Central Arkansas in a doubleheader on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
Houston 2, UConn 1
Houston 4, UConn 1
Houston swept UConn in a Saturday doubleheader at Cougar Softball Stadium with a 2-1 win in game one and 4-1 win the second game. The Cougars improved to 21-23 overall and 5-4 in conference play with the wins, while UConn fell 15-26 and 3-7 in The American with the losses.
After three scoreless innings in the opening game of the doubleheader, the Huskies scored first in the fourth when junior Jacklyn Dubois hit a solo homerun to left center, her first of the year. The Cougars responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning with Courtney Klinger’s RBI single to left field. Neither team scored again in the final three innings, concluding the game with a 2-1 win for Houston.
In the second game Houston took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Julana Shrum hit her 10
th homerun of the season, plating Selena Hernandez and Shelby Miller with her. UConn’s Emily O’Donnell had an RBI double in the sixth inning, cutting into the Cougars lead 3-1. Houston added another run in the bottom of the inning with Shelby Miller’s solo homerun. It was her first homer as a Cougar.
The final game of the series will be played at the Cougar Softball Stadium on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT.
USF 3, East Carolina 2
East Carolina 10, USF 1 (5)
East Carolina and USF split their doubleheader Saturday afternoon at USF Softball Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls took game one in walk-off fashion, 3-2, while the Pirates won game two 10-1 in five innings.
The Pirates scored first in the opener when Mary Sloan Bradford crossed the plate on an error in the top of the third. The Bulls responded in the fourth inning when Lee Ann Spivey recorded her team-leading 10th homer of the season with an inside-the-park shot. Spivey went 2-for-4 in the game with a run and two RBIs. In the top of the sixth East Carolina regained the lead thanks to Casey Alcorn’s solo home run. USF came from behind and rallied in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up when Juli Weber drew a four-pitch walk with bases loaded. Spivey then hit a two-out walk-off single to give the Bulls a 3-2 game victory.
East Carolina took an early lead in the nightcap when Mary Sloan Bradford led off with a solo homerun, her fourth of the season. The Bulls responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when Kristen Wyckoff singled to lead off and then scored on a throwing error. Alcorn had her second homerun of the day in the second inning, a solo shot which put the Pirates back on top, 2-1. East Carolina added another run later in the second inning and opened things up in the fifth with seven runs on three hits. The Pirates improved to 12-35 overall and 4-10 in conference play while USF fell to 33-14 and 4-5 in The American. The two teams will play their series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.