Feb. 19, 2005
The UCF softball team finished pool play 3-0 after defeating Boston University, 6-4 on Saturday morning.
BU grabbed a 1-0 advantage after one inning on a RBI single by DeKenya Williams, but UCF responded with four runs in the third inning to take the lead.
Cat Snapp was hit-by-a-pitch, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nicole Balogh. The Golden Knights used back-to-back RBI doubles from Brytanni Lindheim and Cici Alvarez taking a 2-1 lead.
Stephanie Best capped the inning with a two-run blast over the leftfield fence.
"That's exactly what we want from the top of our lineup," head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. "They were able to produce runs when the situation presented itself."
Jania Shinhoster slapped a double, and came around to score on a RBI single by Snapp giving UCF a 5-3 lead in the fourth.
The Terriers cut the deficit down to 5-4 on an infield RBI in the sixth inning, but UCF responded with a RBI double by Crystle Krafft in the seventh.
Ashley Baker shut down BU 1-2-3 after giving up a lead-off triple, and struck out the final two batters. Baker tallied a career-high eight strikeouts.
"Ashley did a wonderful job for us on the circle," Luers-Gillispie said. "I was really pleased with her composure. She didn't panic when things didn't go her way, and made some really big pitches in some tight spots."
In the afternoon game, the Golden Knights dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to North Dakota State.
Both starting pitchers came out firing on all cylinders throwing five scoreless innings. At one point, UCF hurler Kelly McIntyre retired 11 of 12 batters faced, while Allison Bakke of NDSU countered pitching out of three jams in the first four innings.
"Kelly pitched a whale of a game," Luers-Gillispie said. "It was unfortunate that we were unable to get her any run support, but that shouldn't take away from what she was able to do out there for a second straight day."
The Bison broke the scoreless tie in the sixth inning playing station-to-station softball picking up RBI singles by Lynaee Foshag and Allison Bakke.
UCF was down to their final out when Jennifer Tomasetti ripped a double down the leftfield line. Lindheim came into pinch-hit, and smashed her first career home run evening the game at two apiece.
The international tiebreaker was put into effect to start the eighth inning allowing NDSU to open the frame with a runner on second. Grete Peterson moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a RBI single by Aimee Enzler.
UCF had a chance to answer in the bottom of the inning, but the rally fell short with the tying run left on third base.
"This was a perfect example of why we have to play with the same intensity day in and day out," Luers-Gillispie said. "North Dakota State was looking at us the same way we looked at Washington last weekend."
The Golden Knights will play in the Consolation Game tomorrow. The opponent and game time is still to be determined. Boston University and Longwood will complete their semifinal game at 9 a.m. with the score tied at three in the top of the seventh inning.
If BU loses, then will play UCF however if the Terriers win they will play North Dakota State. The BU game will be at 10 a.m. Admission to the UCF Softball Complex is free for all games of the UCF Tournament.
Game Notes
The home run for Best against BU was her 49th of her career... Baker shattered a previous career-high striking out eight Terriers... The double for Shinhoster was her 40th of her career... Against NDSU, it was the second time that UCF went to extra innings this season... Lindheim's home run was her first in her two seasons at UCF.