Nov. 4, 2004
BOCA RATON - No. 1 seed Florida Atlantic took advantage of seven defensive mistakes by No. 2 seed UCF and impressive pitching by junior Candice Freel to shutout the Golden Knights, 7-0, in the 2004 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship at the FAU Softball Field on Friday night.
The Golden Knights (41-20) will play No. 4 seed Stetson at noon on Saturday to decide who will meet Florida Atlantic in the championship game at 2 p.m.
The Owls (53-16) took a 1-0 lead early as a single up the middle by junior designated player Jessica Braggins scored sophomore lead-off hitter Jessica Sachs.
Two errors and a passed ball in the second inning added four more runs for FAU. Sophomore Jennifer Cavanaugh reached on a line drive up the leftfield line, advanced on a throwing error at second base and scored on a throwing error from shortstop to home. Junior Ginny Matthews added another run when senior Callie Piper grounded out to second, and Sachs, who reached on a fielder's choice, came home on a passed ball for 4-0 advantage.
FAU, which also committed a total of two errors on the night, continued to take advantage of the Golden Knights' mistakes in the infield in the top of the third inning. With Freel on third and Matthews on first, a casual toss to second missed its mark enabling Freel to score.
UCF kept the Owls off the scoreboard in the fourth despite a throwing error at shortstop that extended junior Jenn Piazza's life. Junior Bryttani Lindheim became the first Golden Knight on board when she reached on an error in the bottom of the inning, but junior Jania Shinhoster got the first hit - a single to the left side - in the fifth. She was left stranded after the next three batters struck out.
In the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, Freel, who was put into scoring position on a wild pitch, scored FAU's final run of the night on a fielding error at third base.
Freel (26-8) threw a complete game, striking out nine batters and allowing only two hits. Junior Lindsay Enders dropped to 20-8 with the loss after striking out three and allowing 10 hits. Only three of FAU's seven runs were earned.