Tuesday, April 13-Wednesday, April 14
No. 23/25 UCF 7, No. 5/4 Florida 0
Travel issues delayed the first pitch but did not deter the No. 23 UCF softball team as the Knights posted a 7-0 victory over No. 5 Florida on Wednesday evening in Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
UCF (30-9, 9-3 The American) took a commanding lead in the first inning and never let up, completing the season sweep of the Gators (30-5, 10-2 SEC) for the first time in program history.
"I'm proud of our team's ability to adapt and adjust with everything we dealt with today," UCF head coach Cindy Ball-Malone said. "I loved our approach early in the game to jump on top and keep rolling. (Breanna Vasquez) was phenomenal and got stronger as the game went. Defense and pitching are our true focus. I love how Team XX is attacking that challenge and having fun with it. This was a great team effort and a fun game to be a part of for Knight Nation."
A flat tire on UCF's bus pushed the game's start time back 44 minutes. What could have easily frazzled the visitors instead seemed to provide a spark for them.
Breanna Vasquez tossed a gem in the circle, allowing just three hits in a complete-game shutout. The Norwalk, Calif., native struck out a season-best eight batters in seven innings. Vasquez improved to 4-1 on the season.
Offensively, the Knights did their damage early. UCF scored four runs in the first inning, added a fifth run in the second and tacked on a pair in the third. The Black and Gold posted their second-straight 10-hit contest. The UCF defense also came up big, keeping the Gators off the scoreboard for the first time this season.
A trio of Knights posted multi-hit performances, led by Shannon Doherty's 3-for-4 showing at the plate. Doherty notched a career-best four RBI. Justene Molina and Jada Cody each tallied a pair of hits and Jazmine Esparza batted in a pair.
The Knights return to the UCF Softball Complex for a Top 25 American Athletic Conference series. UCF hosts No. 25 Wichita State for a four-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
Key Moments
Justene Molina started the Knights off with a leadoff double, moved to third on a single from Julianne Wilson and scored on a single from Georgia Blair.
Shannon Doherty cleared the bases with a three-run homer to give UCF a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Doherty drove in another run in the second inning as a single up the middle allowed Denali Schappacher to score, pushing the Black and Gold advantage to 5-0.
With one on and two outs in the third, Jazmine Esparza hit a two-run shot of the park to give the Knights a 7-0 lead.
Florida looked poised to break through in the bottom of the sixth with runners on the corners and one out. Instead, the UCF defense came up clutch to strand the Gators and maintain the shutout.
NOTABLES
Wednesday's victory gave UCF a season sweep of Florida for the first time in program history.
The Knights picked up their first win in Gainesville since May 18, 2008 and the first regular season road victory over the Gators in program history.
The 7-0 score marks UCF's largest margin of victory in the series against the Gators.
UCF's seven runs are the second-most for the Knights in the series history. The Black and Gold's eight runs in the March 24 win in Orlando is the most scored by UCF against Florida.
UCF scored 15 runs on the Gators in the two-game series. Florida has allowed just 19 runs in 12 SEC contests this season.
UCF's 10-hit performance is the most hits allowed by the Florida pitching staff this season.
No. 25 Wichita State 4, UMKC 3
Ryleigh Buck's go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the sixth was enough to deny Kansas City an upset of No. 25 Wichita State Tuesday night, as the Shockers held on 4-3 at Wilkins Stadium.
Wichita State (29-5) extended its winning streak to a season-best 10 straight and also gave head coach Kristi Bredbenner her 600th career win. The same day Wichita State entered the NFCA Top 25, Kansas City had plans to spoil that achievement, but the long ball came through once again. The Shockers tacked on three more home runs on the night, running their season tally to 71.
Caitlin Bingham (7-1) got the starting nod in the circle and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits. She walked zero and struck out four. Bailey Lange registered her fourth save of the season, pitching the final frame. She retired the only three batters she faced.
Bailee Nickerson homered for the second straight game, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI. Buck's home run proved to be the deciding factor on a night she went 2-for-3. Bailey Urban added two hits, one of them being a double.
Addison Barnard added her 17th home run of the season, which moved her into sole possession of first place on the single season home run chart at Wichita State. She entered the game tied with Cacy Williams (16 in 2014).
It didn't take long for Barnard to crush her record-breaking home run. She put a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall to give the Shockers an early 1-0 lead. Nickerson pushed it to 2-0 after ripping an RBI single up the middle.
Kansas City got a run back in the top of the second following a double and RBI single.
Nickerson's solo homer to left-center pushed the advantage back to two, 3-1, after four innings.
Kansas City wasn't going down without a fight. The Roos brought home a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3.
Buck's leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth would be the final bit of offense for either team.
No. RV Ole Miss 11, Memphis 0 (5)
Memphis softball loses in five innings to RV Ole Miss in Oxford 11-0. The Tigers are now 2-7 all-time against the Rebels and 0-5 in Oxford.
Mariah Nichols got her ninth start in the circle for the Tigers. She did not record an out before Hallie Siems came into the game. Siems went two and a third inning, giving up seven earned runs on three hits. She also had six walks. Kailey Hilderbrand came in with one out in the bottom of the third. Hilderbrand went one and two thirds innings, giving up one run on two hits.
Senior Ava Tillman started for Ole Miss in the circle. She came in with a 5-1 record in seven starts for the Rebels. Tillman went two innings giving up one hit and three strikeouts. Freshman Landyn Bruce got the win for Ole Miss, she gave up one hit in two innings. Freshman Aynslie Furbush finished the game for the Rebels.
The Rebels scored early in the ball game, putting three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Abbey Latham got the scoring going with a two run single to left. Then Paige Smith scored on an error to make 3-0. Ole Miss added three more runs in the second inning, including an RBI fly out to left by Blaise Biringer to bring the score to 6-0.
After Maddi Banks scored on a walk, Jessica Puk hit a grand slam to left field to extend the Rebels lead to 11-0.
Sophomore Meagan Chism and Junior Alyssa Dean had the only two hits of the night for the Tigers.
The Tigers fall to 7-25 and the Rebels improve to 26-14.