Sunday, March 26
Wichita State 10, UCF 5 – Box Score
South Florida 8, East Carolina 0 – Box Score
Houston 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
Recaps
Wichita State 10, UCF 5 – Box Score
ORLANDO – No. 22 Wichita State scored all 10 of its runs with two outs to record a series-clinching 10-5 win at UCF Sunday afternoon.
Wichita State (26-7, 2-1 The American) was 8-for-15 with two outs in the final game of the series, dropping UCF to 19-18 overall and 1-2 in the league.
Sydney McKinney came up a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. She was 3-for-5 with a single, double, triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Zoe Jones continued her red-hot weekend, going 2-for-4 with a home run, double and five RBI. Addison Barnard, Lauren Mills (RBI), Taylor Sedlacek, Lainee Brown (RBI double) and Krystin Nelson added a hit apiece.
Alex Aguilar (6-2) won her sixth game, allowing five runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. Aguilar put up four straight scoreless frames after three runs in the first two innings. Lauren Howell recorded the final three outs out of the bullpen.
UCF grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a one-out, solo home run, but Wichita State answered in a big way in the top of the second. The Shockers put up seven runs in the frame, all with two outs.
After Lauren Mills and Brown drew walks, Nelson started the two-out rally with an RBI single into right-center. The very next batter, McKinney, dropped a run-scoring double into left-center to put the Shockers in front, 2-1. An infield single from Barnard and a bases loaded walk to Lauren Lucas set the stage for Jones. The senior belted her first career grand slam over the right field wall to make it 7-1.
UCF cut into the lead in the home half of the second on a two-out, two-run single.
Wichita State went scoreless in the third and fourth innings, but Brown delivered in the top of the fifth with yet another two-out hit. Brown drove an RBI double over the head of the right fielder, increasing the lead to 8-3.
McKinney led off the sixth with her sixth triple of the season, and Wichita State proceeded to do more damage with two outs. Following an Barnard pop up and a Lucas fly out, Jones ripped an RBI double to center. Mills then added the final run on a single up the middle.
The Knights put up two in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run home run.
South Florida 8, East Carolina 0 – Box Score
TAMPA – Gabriella Nori pitched her second complete game of the weekend in the University of South Florida's (22-15, 3-0 The American) 8-0 win to complete the series sweep of the East Carolina Pirates (21-12, 0-3 The American) on Sunday afternoon.
Opposite of yesterday’s, South Florida spread their runs across multiple innings. Camille Ortiz-Martinez lead the second inning off with a four-pitch walk. One batter later, Tieley Vaughn sent the ball over the left-field wall for her second home run in a week.
An inning later, three singles gave the Bulls two runs. Jordyn Kadlub reached on a bunt single. A stolen base and a throwing error by the Pirates catcher allowed her to get to third. Meghan Sheehan's single brought Kadlub home. Sheehan scored on a single from Marissa Trivelpiece.
Two more singles in the fourth and sixth innings added three more runs. In the sixth inning, Bailee Leistl stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and one out. She singled up the middle for her first two RBI of the season.
Houston 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Houston softball team capped its first weekend of conference play with an 8-3 win over Memphis, completing its second consecutive three-game sweep against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
Kenna Wilkey (10-7) earned her third win of the weekend, throwing six innings and allowing zero earned runs with four strikeouts. Her ERA remains at 0.00 in conference play and drops to 2.54 on the year. Memphis' Mikayla Hoschak moved to 1-7 on the year.
Houston's offense surged in the final inning. Lorenzo singled to start the inning, then scored in the next at-bat off a Ja'Naiya Thomas double. Still with no outs, Coleman put runners on the corners with a bunt single and Hulsey walked immediately following to load the bases. Cantu tallied her second double of the year, driving home Thomas and Coleman to put Houston up 5-1.
Matthews kept the rally going, singling through the right side to drive home a run, and Allen used a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to add another. Amanda Carden capped the scoring in the inning, using an RBI double to plate Matthews to extend Houston's lead to 8-1.
The Cougars held off a late comeback attempt by Memphis, stranding a pair of Tiger runners to end the game with an 8-3 victory.