Saturday, April 22
UCF 3, South Florida 1 – Box Score
Wichita State 4, East Carolina 0 – Box Score
Tulsa 4, Houston 0 – Box Score
Recaps
UCF 3, South Florida 1 – Box Score
ORLANDO – On Friday, it was Chloe Evans and Sarah Willis who excelled in their debuts to the War on I-4 rivalry series. Saturday afternoon, junior right-hander Grace Jewell made her mark in the first appearance of her college career against the South Florida Bulls.
On the back of five strong innings of one-run ball from Jewell and a stingy effort from the Knights' relief corps, UCF clinched a series win over its western rivals, 3-1, at the UCF Softball Complex with a chance to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon.
In winning their third straight game overall and 10th in their last 11 games, the Knights (29-19, 8-3 The American) also extended their win streak against the Bulls to 10 straight games dating back to UCF's 4-3 win over South Florida May 8, 2021.
In writing the latest chapter of her breakout junior season, Jewell was dominant in her first start against South Florida, throwing five innings of one-run ball before giving way to her bullpen in the sixth inning.
The right-hander turned in her third straight start of at least five innings, as well as her eighth appearance this season with at least five innings pitched while yielding one or fewer runs. Like Willis Friday evening, Jewell began her day with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless first inning.
She authored a perfect second and worked around a two-out single in the third before again retiring the side in order in the fourth inning.
Bulls designated player Lydia Castro finally solved the Knights starter in the fifth, lining a one-out solo homer that hit off the top of the left field wall and bounced over, but Jewell limited the damage to one run with a flyout and a groundout to escape the inning.
In her five innings, she allowed only a trio of hits, marking her sixth appearance this season with at least five innings pitched and three or fewer hits allowed, and her first since her April 1 complete-game shutout at ECU.
Following her 25th appearance and 17th start of the campaign, Jewell lowered her season-low ERA to 2.37, having thrown a career-high 103.1 innings and racking up a season-high 61 punchouts. Her .184 batting average-against is also an even 100 points lower than her 2022 mark of .284.
Ball-Malone turned to southpaw Angelina DeVoe in relief after Jewell yielded a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, and DeVoe escaped the jam with a trio of ground balls in her fourth consecutive scoreless appearance.
Right-hander Kaitlyn Felton slammed the door in the seventh, tallying her second save of the season in her first appearance since throwing 3.2 scoreless frames in relief during the Knights' 13-1 win over Tulsa April 16.
A trio of runs in the fourth inning was all Jewell, DeVoe and Felton needed to lead the Knights to their 29th win of the season. With two outs, UCF rallied on the strength of five consecutive hitters to reach base. Following a Savannah Adams single and a Micaela Macario walk, shortstop Jasmine Williams extended her career-long hit streak to seven straight games with an RBI single to center field, breaking the ice and giving the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Freshman outfielder Olivia Elliott made a pinch-hit appearance and reached on a Bulls fielding error, and junior utility player Kennedy Searcy took advantage of the Knights' new life with a bloop double to left field to drive in two more.
Wichita State 4, East Carolina 0 – Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – A dominant performance in the circle from Alex Aguilar and the return of Zoe Jones on Senior Day propelled No. 23 Wichita State to a 4-0 shutout of East Carolina Saturday afternoon at Wilkins Stadium.
Wichita State (39-8, 12-2) clinched its fifth straight conference series behind the shutout to remain atop the American Athletic Conference standings.
Aguilar tossed her team-leading sixth complete game shutout of the season to improve to 12-2 in the circle. She allowed only three hits, while walking none and striking out three.
Lauren Mills was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, but the highlight was the return of Jones to the lineup after missing the last two weeks due to injury. She went 2-for-3 in her first game back, including her 13th home run of the season, tied for the team lead.
Lauren Lucas, Taylor Sedlacek (double), Lainee Brown (RBI double) and Krystin Nelson (RBI single) all recorded a hit.
Wichita State was only able to scratch out a single run in the second and fourth innings behind a Sami Hood sac fly and Brown RBI double. The Shockers had the bases loaded and only one out in the fourth, but couldn't take advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jones drove a deep fly ball off the very top of the wall in center and over for a solo home run. Nelson would tack on one more run on a bases loaded RBI single through the right side.
Wichita State stranded 11 baserunners on the afternoon, including two innings with the bases loaded.
Tulsa 4, Houston 0 – Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas – Imani Edwards connected on a third inning grand slam and Kylee Nash threw a complete game as the Golden Hurricane clinched the series against Houston with a 4-2 win at Cougar Softball Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Tulsa improved to 19-23 and 5-6 in The American in 2023. Houston fell to 19-23 and are 6-5 in conference play. The Hurricane won its second conference series of the season after taking two of three against the Memphis Tigers in the conference opener.
Nash (8-11) tossed her sixth complete game of the season in the win. She gave the Houston batters fits, allowing only two runs on three hits while walking three and striking out seven. When Houston did score, she limited the damage and kept the hosts from getting any powerful contact on the day.
At the plate, Edwards' grand slam was the story of the day. She gave Tulsa all its four runs with the home run and now has five RBI for the weekend. MacKenzie Deson had a two-hit game, including a vital hit in the third inning to keep the frame alive for Edwards. Denson's elite slapping skills came into play as she hit the ball directly into the dirt, using her speed to make the play impossible for the defense.
Emma Vickrey's two-out single got Tulsa's rally started in the third and was the first hit of the game. Haley Morgan walked and came around to score and she also had a hit later in the game.
Neither team managed a hit until Vickrey singled up the middle with two outs in the top of the third, starting a Golden Hurricane rally. Morgan drew a walk and Denson slapped an infield single to load the bases. Edwards stepped up and cleared the bags with a grand slam to right center. Her second home run of the season was a line drive that got out in a hurry, matched only by her speed rounding the bases as Tulsa went up 4-0.
The Cougars got themselves on the board in the fourth inning. A leadoff walk and two ground outs put the first run 60 feet from home. Houston then picked up its first hit of the game with a hard-hit single up the middle to bring in the runner from third and cut the deficit to 4-1.
The Hurricane threatened to extend its lead in the top of the fifth. Morgan and Denson singled to lead off the inning. A strikeout and fielder's choice left runners on the corner with two outs and Claira Skaggs at the plate. The third baseman lifted a ball to shallow left that seemed destined to add runs, but the left fielder, Ja'Naiya Thomas, made a fantastic diving grab to rob Skaggs of a sure hit and at least one RBI.
Thomas led off the bottom of the fifth for Houston with an infield single. She never stopped running on a sacrifice bunt, passing second and sliding in safely at third with one out. The next batter hit a tough ball in the hole between short and third. Edwards made a nice play to keep it in the infield. She fired home but was not in time to catch Thomas and Tulsa's lead was 4-2.
From there, Nash didn't allow another Houston hit or runner. She got a ground out and strikeout to end the threat in the fifth. In the sixth she forced a ground out back to herself before striking out the next two. Tulsa set the Cougars down in order in the seventh as well to clinch the win and the series.