Saturday, May 8
No. RV UCF 4, No. RV USF 3/No. RV UCF 9, No. RV USF 1 (5)
It was a day packed with walk-off wins on Saturday at the UCF Softball Complex as the Knights did it twice to beat South Florida in both games of a doubleheader and spoil the Bulls' chances of winning a regular season conference title.
South Florida came into the series needing to win three of four games to secure an AAC conference title as conference leaders Wichita State own a 18-5-1 record in league play and are not playing conference games in this final weekend of the regular season.
With the two losses today, the Bulls moved to 16-6 in conference action and Wichita State secured their first AAC conference title in program history.
With the two wins, UCF moves to 36-16-1, 15-7-1 on the season. A win on Sunday secures third place in the conference.
"I think the fans got to a little piece of us today, but I still think we have more to prove. We haven't shown our complete game yet," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone.
The Knights and Bulls will play the final game of the series Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
GAME ONE – UCF 4 // South Fla. 3
The Knights took game one in true walk-off fashion, coming from behind 3-2 in the seventh inning to score two straight and claim the 4-3 victory.
Facing Georgina Corrick, who was coming off a complete game shutout against the Knights in game one, in the circle, the Black and Gold had their work cut out for them at the plate, but coach Ball-Malone was able to implement some clever "small ball" strategy to manufacture two early runs for the Knights.
Unfortunately, UCF starting pitcher Gianna Mancha would not hold the lead, surrendering a solo home to lead off the fourth and allowing the Bulls to tie it in the fifth. South Florida would take a 3-2 lead later in the fifth inning and the Knights found themselves down a run heading into the seventh.
An Allyse Volpe double to lead off the seventh would provide a spark to the Knights' lineup, and after Volpe came around to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at three, a Jada Cody sacrifice bunt caught the Bulls off guard, driving in a fourth UCF run and securing the 4-3 walk-off victory.
With the win, Mancha moves to 13-5 on the season. She finished the day allowing three earned runs on five hits in the complete game effort.
Key Moments
The Knights loaded the bases in the top of the first and Shannon Doherty laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score a run and put UCF up 1-0.
Doherty came through with another RBI in the bottom of the third, driving in a run on a sacrifice-fly to extend the Knights' lead to 2-0.
The Bulls answered back with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth to cut their deficit to 2-1.
With two away in the fifth, the Bulls rallied with three singles in a row to tie the game at two apiece.
A wild pitch later in the inning would allow another South Florida run to cross the plate, giving them the 3-2 lead.
The Knights tied it up in the bottom of the seventh after a South Florida wild pitch allowed a run to score.
With a runner on third and one away in the bottom of the seventh, Jada Cody squared around to bunt in the winning Knights run and walk it off for the 4-3 UCF win.
GAME TWO – UCF 9 // South Fla. 1
The bats came alive for game two Saturday afternoon as the Knights rallied for nine runs, six of which came in the fifth inning, to secure the 9-1 run rule walk-off over the Bulls.
Alea White was in true ace form in the circle for UCF. In what could end up being her final start ever at the UCF Softball Complex, White left her mark with a one hit, one run complete game to move her to 18-6 on the year.
The deciding blow in the ballgame came in the fifth inning. With the Knights already up 3-1, UCF senior Takiya London stepped up to the plate and crushed a 1-1 pitch to straight away center field for her first long ball of the season and just her third in a Knights' uniform.
The blast put the Knights up 6-1 and three more runs in the fifth inning would seal the deal, giving UCF the walk-off victory by run rule and spoiling South Florida's chances at a regular season conference title.
Key Moments
The Bulls struck first in the top of the third as they were trying to advance a runner on a sacrifice bunt, but a UCF error would allow a run to cross the plate, giving South Florida the 1-0 lead.
Jazmine Esparza drove in a pair on an RBI single in the third to give UCF the 2-1 lead.
Allyse Volpe padded the Knights' lead with an RBI single back up the middle in the fourth, extending UCF's lead to 3-1.
With two runners on in the fifth, Takiya London hit a three-run blast to left-center field to extend the Knights' lead to 6-1.
Volpe singled again in the fifth to move UCF's lead to 7-1.
Juliana Wilson followed with an RBI single to right to give the Knights the 8-1 advantage.
Volpe would come around to score on a wild pitch later in the fifth inning to give the Knights the 9-1 walk-off win.
NOTABLES
The win in game one marked UCF's first over South Florida since April 15, 2018.
The Knights' 36 wins are their most in a season since 2016.
Denali Schappacher game-winning run in seventh inning of game one was the 100th of her career, making her the ninth UCF Softball player ever to reach 100 runs scored in a career. Schappacher is just two behind Abby McClain with 102 runs.
The Knights' win in game two spoiled any potential of a regular season conference title for South Florida. With their two losses today, Wichita State secures the AAC regular season title at 18-5-1 in league play.
With her 15th double of the season in game one, Jazmine Esparza is one shy of tying the UCF single-season record for doubles (16).
UCF's nine runs scored in game two were the most they have scored since April 23 (10 vs Memphis).
East Carolina 4, Memphis 0/East Carolina 3, Memphis 0
Erin Poepping and Kama Woodall tossed consecutive shutouts Saturday, lifting East Carolina to a doubleheader sweep of Memphis inside Max R. Joyner Family Stadium. The Pirates downed the Tigers 3-0 in game one before notching a 4-0 victory in the nightcap to clinch their first American Athletic Conference series of the season.
The back-to-back shutouts were the first for ECU since 2017 when they defeated North Carolina Central and Connecticut by identical 4-0 margins. They were also the first in league play since 2014 when the Pirates knocked off Louisiana Tech 7-0 and 1-0 as part of a Conference USA series.
East Carolina (15-32, 6-17 AAC) has twirled shutouts in three of its last four games while Memphis (9-39, 2-21) has lost three in a row.
Game One: East Carolina 3, Memphis 0
Poepping tossed a complete-game shutout and the Pirate offense backed her with three runs as ECU took the opener of the doubleheader.
Poepping (4-9) scattered two hits and struck out six batters in the win while Hallie Siems (2-9) suffered the loss by surrendering three runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Poepping allowed just one Memphis runner to advance past second base.
Chandley Garner paced all position players with a hit and RBI while Olivia Narron drew a pair of walks. Gracie Morton and Lanya Bates accounted for Memphis' only two base knocks of the contest.
While Poepping was busy retiring the first 11 batters she faced, East Carolina grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a bases-loaded throwing error by the Tiger second baseman. The Pirates increased the lead to three in the bottom of the third via an RBI groundout and another Memphis error.
The Tigers put up their best scoring chance in the top of the sixth, getting a runner to third with two outs, but Morton grounded out to second to terminate the half inning. Poepping retired the Memphis side in order in the top of the seventh to preserve the shutout.
Game Two: East Carolina 4, Memphis 0
ECU made two early runs stand in the nightcap, stifling the Tiger lineup for the second-straight game to complete the sweep.
Woodall (9-18) continued her strong run of pitching form, scattering six hits and striking out six batters with no walks in her 15th complete game of the campaign. Chyanne Ellett (2-11) took the loss, giving up four runs on nine hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
A trio of Pirate batters notched two hits in the contest. Ashleigh Inae added a run scored and RBI while Sydney Yoder drove in a pair of runs on the strength of her first home run of the season. Baylee Smith recorded two hits to lead visiting Memphis.
Inae got things started in the bottom of the first, ripping a leadoff single into center. After a sacrifice bunt advanced Inae to second, Rachel McCollum hit a sharp liner at the shortstop who corralled the ball and threw home. The initial call saw Inae called out, but it was reversed after the umpires determined there was catcher's interference blocking the plate and the run stood.
East Carolina struck again in the bottom of the second. Courtney Layton pinch ran for Taylor Woodring who led off the frame with a four-pitch walk. Layton scooted over to second base following a sacrifice bunt by Sophie Wools then crossed home on an Inae single to make it 2-0.
The Pirates capped the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when Woodring singled up the middle to begin the inning and Yoder snuck an 0-1 offering just inside the left foul pole for her second career home run and a 4-0 ECU advantage. Smith tried to spark a Tiger rally in the top of the seventh with a leadoff single, but Woodall sat down three of the next four Memphis batters to end the game.
Houston 6, Tulsa 3
A three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh from redshirt senior outfielder Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn lifted the University of Houston Softball team to a 6-3 victory over Tulsa on Saturday.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 17-31 on the year and 9-14 in American Athletic Conference action, while the Golden Hurricane falls to 23-14 and 14-8 in league play.
All of Houston's runs on Saturday were scored off home runs, as redshirt senior Sarah Queen and senior Tierrah Williams joined Stewart-Vaughn as those to hit home runs in the game. Queen finished the day leading the team in hits with a 2-for-3 performance.
In the circle, the Cougars were paced by sophomore Megan Lee, who surrendered just one run over her five innings of work. Sophomore Logan Hulon came out of the bullpen and struck out four of the nine batters she faced to earn her fourth win of the season.
KEY INNINGS
3rd | After senior Rock Benavides reached base with a walk, Queen connected on her 12th home run of the season to put Houston out in front first at 2-0.
4th | The solo home run down the leftfield line from Williams extended the Cougar lead to 3-0.
7th | Tulsa managed to tie the score with a two-run shot, but the Cougars found a rebuttal in the bottom of the inning. Once senior Aspen Howie started the rally with a base hit that she legged out for a double, freshman Paige Lott used a pinch-hit blooper to move Howie to third and put a pair on base for Houston. Stewart-Vaughn then stepped up to the plate and drove a 2-0 pitch over the wall to complete the walk-off victory for the Cougars.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Sarah Queen | 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs
Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn | 1-4, HR, 3 RBIs
Tierrah Williams | 1-3, HR
Aspen Howie | 1-3, 2B, R
Paige Lott | 1-1, R
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Megan Lee | 5.0 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 0 K
Logan Hulon (W, 4-7) | 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K