Saturday, May 1
No. RV USF 1, East Carolina 0/No. RV USF 4, East Carolina 1
Junior pitcher Georgina Corrick (Sanford, Fla.) rang in May with a rare feat, posting her second-straight no-hitter in the Bulls' opening game of a double-header with ECU (11-32; 2-17 AAC) Saturday at the USF Softball Stadium.
The Bulls claimed both games on the day – winning 1-0 and 4-1 to improve to 27-12 on the year and 15-3 in the AAC, winning 10 of their last 13 to remain at the top of the American Athletic Conference standings in their quest for their third straight regular-season conference title and fourth in the last five seasons.
Game One – USF 1, ECU 0
Corrick, an All-American and two-time AAC Pitcher of the Year, tossed another gem in Saturday's opener after allowing just two base runners in posting a no-hitter on Friday. She allowed just three base runners in Saturday's first game – with Pirates reaching via a walk, hit by pitch and error – as she stymied ECU for a 1-0 victory. It marked her third no-hitter of the season and fifth career, putting her second all-time at USF behind only Sara Nevins' (2011-14) nine.
Corrick improved to 20-4 on the season with her 31st career shutout, just two shy of Jennifer Thompson (1996-99) for second all-time at USF. She entered the weekend ranked eighth in wins and third in shutouts nationally.
Alexis Johns (Sarasota, Fla.) scored on a passed ball in the sixth inning for the winning run for the Bulls. Johns reached base by singling through the left side, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by AnaMarie Bruni (Schwenksville, Pa.).
Game Two – USF 4, ECU 0
Lexie Kopko (Stewartstown, Pa.) followed in Corrick's footsteps in game two, pitching 3.1 no-hit innings and facing only two over the minimum to earn her first career victory in game two. Corrick, building on her already incredible weekend, closed out the game in the circle, striking out another five batters to earn her third save of the season.
Kyndall Williams (Trenton, Fla.) put USF on the board early, driving home Bruni to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. ECU responded with a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1.
South Florida put the game out of reach of the Pirates in the bottom of the second. Alanah Rivera (St. Petersburg, Fla.) tripled down the right-field line to score Megan Pierro (Lutz, Fla.). Josie Foreman (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added insurance runs to the Bulls' total, sending a home run over the left-field fence to cap the scoring at 4-1.
Quotable
Head coach Ken Eriksen on Georgina Corrick…
"She's basically taken this team on her back on the defensive side of the ball and said, 'you know what, I'm going to hold them at zero for as long as possible and you guys do your job.' That's a team player. I would tell you right now that probably, between yesterday and today, she had no idea whether it was a perfect game or a no-hitter, but her and the catchers were working on getting the hitters out. To keep that type of focus and not really know what's going on in the statistical world, that's pretty special right there, for her to come out in the last three games and throw 16.2 innings of no-hit ball."
Eriksen on Lexie Kopko earning her first collegiate win…
"That was a great performance (by Lexie). She's been building up for this day throughout the entire spring. Just 'give me the ball, I'm honing my skills.' Today, she was really under control. She was competitive from the get-go and I thought Josie did a great job with her, leading her. She was special today. She shut down a huge inning with the bases loaded. That was a pretty big turning point in game two.
Notables
Corrick now has 268 strikeouts on the season, which ranks sixth on USF's single season list just ahead her 260 recorded in 2019. Sara Nevins owns the record of 336 set in 2012.
Corrick recorded her 72nd career win, which is now just two short of second all-time in the AAC. Alea White (UCF) owns the record with 94.
Corrick posted 10 strikeouts in the opener, her 15th game on the year with 10 or more and to move her career total to 819 (second all-time at USF).
Bruni needs just one stolen base to set a new USF single-season record. She currently has 33 on the year, tying, for the second time in her career, the mark of 33 set by Shelly Riker set in 2002.
Corrick has gone 21 outs without allowing a hit, dating back to the first batter of the third inning against Wichita State on April 25.
No. RV Wichita State 9, Tulsa 5
Wichita State smacked three home runs and pounded out 12 hits on the way to a 9-5 win at Tulsa Saturday afternoon.
Wichita State (37-9-1, 18-4-1) clinched the series with the win and picked up its fourth straight win in the process. The Shockers continue to keep pace with first place USF who also clinched its series vs. ECU this weekend.
Bailey Lange started the game in the circle, but didn't make it out of the second inning after giving up three runs on two hits and two walks. Erin McDonald notched her ninth win of the season behind 5.2 innings of relief work. She allowed just two runs on three hits and a walk.
Kaylee Huecker was a perfect 3-for-3 with another home run, three RBI and three runs scored. It marked the second straight game with a crucial round-tripper for the senior second baseman. Sydney McKinney extended her career-long hitting streak to 14 after a 3-for-4 day at the plate. McKinney doubled and drove in two runs.
Addison Barnard and Madison Perrigan both went deep in the game, bringing their season total to 20 and 17, respectively. Barnard is one of just five players in the NCAA with 20 or more home runs this season. Neleigh Herring tripled for the second consecutive day in a 2-for-3 day at the dish.
Tulsa jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, scoring runs on a wild pitch and RBI double. They added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly.
Wichita State broke through in the top of the third behind McKinney's RBI double down the left field line and then Barnard's two-run home run. The back-to-back extra base hits tied the game at 3-3.
The fourth inning would see Wichita State grab its first lead on another RBI base hit from McKinney, but Tulsa would strike right back with a pair of runs on back-to-back doubles. After four innings, the Hurricane held a 5-4 lead.
The back-and-forth swapping of the lead continued in the fifth with Perrigan delivering a towering two-run home run to left, putting the Shockers back in front, 6-5.
Huecker's mammoth three-run blast put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh.
Houston 7, Memphis 2/Memphis 3, Houston 0
The University of Houston Softball team won its 700th game in program history, which helped lead to a doubleheader split against the Memphis Tigers on Saturday.
With the win, the Cougars (15-30, 6-14 AAC) split the season series with the Tigers (9-36, 2-18 AAC), as Houston has now won nine of its last 11 matchups against Memphis. Houston opened the day with a 7-2 victory to earn the program's 700th win, before falling in a pitcher's duel in the nighttime matchup by a score of 3-0.
In the first contest, sophomore Logan Hulon tossed her second complete game of the season, having issued two walks while striking out five batters. She needed just 92 pitches to earn her win. Senior Rock Benavides put together a solid day at the plate, going a combined 4-for-5, which included a three-hit performance in the series finale.
Sophomore Britaney Shaw ignited the Cougar offense in the first game of the day, launching her seventh home run of the season with a three-run blast in the third inning. With hits in each of Saturday's contests, junior Bethany Busch extended her reached base streak to 16 games.
GAME 3: Houston 7, Memphis 2
KEY INNINGS
3rd | After Benavides recorded the first hit of the game, redshirt senior Sarah Queen followed with a walk to put a pair on for Shaw, whose seventh homer of the season put Houston ahead 3-0. In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers scored off a sacrifice fly to trim the Cougar lead to two.
4th | Benavides drove in Houston's fourth run of the game with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, but Memphis responded again with a run of its own to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Cougars.
7th | Following a double from senior Tierrah Williams, Busch immediately collected a double of her own to push Williams across the plate. Senior Charse Wyatt then sent a pinch-hit single off the wall to score Busch and give Houston a 7-2 lead.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Britaney Shaw | 1-3, HR, 3 RBIs
Rock Benavides | 1-1, 2B, R, RBI
Bethany Busch | 1-1, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB
Tierrah Williams | 1-4, 2B, R
Charese Wyatt | 1-1, RBI
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Logan Hulon (W, 3-7) | 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 92 NP
GAME 4: Houston 0, Memphis 3
KEY INNINGS
3rd | The Tigers struck first with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
6th | A solo home run from Memphis pushed the advantage to 3-0.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Rock Benavides | 3-4
Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn | 1-3
Bethany Busch | 1-3
Aspen Howie | 1-3
Britaney Shaw | 1-3
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Megan Lee (L, 3-9) | 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K
Rachel Hertenberger | 1.1 IP, H, ER, 0 BB
No. RV Ole Miss 5, No. 25/24 UCF 4 (10)/No. RV Ole Miss 10, No. 25/24 UCF 0 (5)
Things didn't quite work out the way the Knights had envisioned they would when they took off for Oxford over the weekend as UCF dropped both games of a doubleheader with the Rebels on Saturday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex to leave for home winless on the weekend.
Despite jumping out to a four-run lead in game one, UCF could not hold on, falling 5-4 to Ole Miss in 10 innings before struggling in game two, ending the series on a 10-0 defeat.
Next up, the Knights will return home for their final regular season series of the season. UCF will welcome rival South Florida to town for an AAC showdown of four games in three days at the UCF Softball Complex.
GAME ONE – UCF 4 // Ole Miss 5
The Knights jumped out to an early lead in game one, scoring four runs in the first two innings, but they couldn't hold on. The Knights allowed Ole Miss to score five unanswered runs, including a walk-off RBI base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning, to fall 5-4.
Knights' starting pitcher Alea White was in the circle for all 9.1 innings for UCF. White allowed just two earned runs while holding the Rebels' lineup to less than a hit per inning. With the loss, she moves to 17-5 on the season.
A week after earning conference player of the week honors, UCF leadoff hitter Jada Cody was 3-for-5 with a walk and a run scored. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn Jensen and Kyra Klarkowski also turned in multi-hit performances with two hits each. Jensen also added two RBI and a run scored.
The extra inning game marked the sixth of the season for the Knights. The loss marked UCF's first in extra innings this year.
Key Moments
Jazmine Esparza opened up the scoring for UCF with a sacrifice-fly in the top of the first, driving in Juliana Wilson and putting the Knights up 1-0.
The Knights tacked onto their lead in the top of the third as Kaitlyn Jensen doubled to drive in a pair and put UCF up 3-0.
Jensen came around to score on a Shannon Doherty RBI single later in the inning, moving the Knights' lead to 4-0.
Ole Miss struck back in the bottom of the second, scoring a run on an RBI single and taking advantage of a UCF error to cut their deficit to 4-2.
The Rebels scored two more in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of another Knights' error to tie the game at four apiece.
After five scoreless innings, the Rebels scored to go up 5-4 and walk it off in the bottom of the 10th.
GAME TWO – UCF 0 // Ole Miss 10
Not much would break the Knight's way in game two as UCF was held to just two hits and no runs, falling 10-0 to the Rebels in five innings.
Knights' starting pitcher Gianna Mancha allowed seven runs (six earned) in the second inning before being pulled for Angelina DeVoe, who didn't fare much better against the potetnt Ole Miss lineup. She allowed two earned in 1.2 innings of work and was relieved in the fourth inning by Breanna Vasquez, who allowed an earned run as well in 1.0 frames. The trio of UCF pitchers allowed 10 combined runs on nine hits to the Rebels in game two. With the loss, Mancha falls to 12-5 on the season.
Not much was working in the way of offense for UCF as Ole Miss starter Savannah Diederich allowed just one hit in four innings of work, striking out four and not allowing any runs. With the win, she moves to 12-8.
Following the weekend sweep, UCF moves to 34-15-1 on the year.
Key Moments
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, UCF starting pitcher Gianna Mancha walked in a run to give Ole Miss the 1-0 lead.
The next batter reached out a fielder's choice, but not before another Rebels run would score, giving them a 2-0 lead.
A wild pitch later in the inning would allow another Ole Miss run to score, putting them up 3-0.
Still in the second, an Ole Miss RBI single would drive in two more, extending their lead to 5-0.
A double later in the inning would drive in another Ole Miss run, moving them to 6-0.
The Rebels would score their seventh run of the inning on a groundout, putting them up 7-0 in just the second inning.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, UCF reliever Breanna Vasquez walked in a run to put Ole Miss up 8-0.
A single later in the inning would drive in two more, moving Ole Miss's lead to 10-0.