THE AMERICAN MAKES A STATEMENT IN WEEK 3
Teams from The American enjoyed a huge third weekend of the regular season last week, as American squads logged a total of five wins against teams ranked in the major national top-20 softball polls. UCF and USF each won a pair of games against then No. 12 Tennessee in Tampa, and Houston took down No. 20/22 Texas Tech at home during a 21-11 overall week for the league.
UCF DOMINATES NO. 12 TENNESSEE AT USF
It was not much of a contest for UCF against No. 12 Tennessee in two games last weekend at the USF Invitational at USF Softball Stadium in Tampa. After the Knights surprised the Volunteers 10-1 in five innings on Feb. 21, they proved that the win was no fluke by following up with an equally impressive 9-1 run-rule victory against Tennessee the following morning.
The UCF pitching staff limited Tennessee to a .167 batting average and only six hits over the course of the sweep, while the Knights scored 19 runs on 21 hits of their own. Only two hits by the Volunteers in the series went for extra bases. American Player of the Week Jada Cody batted .571 with a home run, four RBI and four runs scored against Tennessee for the weekend.
USF ADDS SWEEP OF TENNESSEE IN TAMPA
USF ran its current winning streak to four games at the USF Invitational with two wins over FIU and punctuated the weekend by also downing No. 12 Tennessee 2-1 and 3-2.
Unlike the offensive firepower conference foe UCF displayed against the Volunteers, USF rode the steady arm of American Pitcher of the Week Georgina Corrick in the circle. In 14 full innings against Tennessee, Corrick posted a 1.00 ERA and held the Vols to a .204 batting average against in a pair of complete games.
QUEEN OVERPOWERS AT THE PLATE FOR UH
Houston’s Sarah Queen was on fire offensively for the Cougars during a 6-0 weekend, batting .526 with six extra-base hits, eight RBI and five runs scored. Queen is among the American top-five in hits (20), slugging percentage (.776), on-base percentage (.482) and RBI (19) thus far this season.
PERRIGAN, WHITE INCHING CLOSER TO CAREER MARKS
Wichita State’s Madison Perrigan remains within four home runs of establishing the all-time mark for long balls in the history of The American. Perrigan’s 32 career home runs rank solo second in conference history, trailing only the 35 home runs of former USF standout Lee Ann Spivey (2014-16). UCF’s Alea White is one victory behind Tulsa’s Emily Watson (74, 2015-18) for the conference career pitching wins record.