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Feb. 9, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF softball team has another challenging weekend ahead as the Golden Knights travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. The Golden Knights will play six games in three days hooking up with No. 5/7 LSU, No. 8/11 Michigan, and No. 11/8 Washington. UCF will also take on Portland State and UC-Riverside in pool play.
This weekend will be the first time that UCF matches-up with all five squads on the softball diamond.
The Golden Knights enter the tournament 3-4 on the young season after a 2-3 mark a weekend ago at the Clearwater Invitational. UCF returns eight starters in the field, a pair of pitchers, and add five talented fresh faces to a squad that finished in second place in the Atlantic Sun conference. Stephanie Best returns for her senior campaign, and enters the weekend with a career .398 batting average to go along with 46 career home runs. The South Carolina native was drafted by the New England Riptide of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) League on Monday afternoon. Jania Shinhoster has yet to miss a start during her UCF career in center field. She has started all 202 games in program history for the Golden Knights. Lindsay Enders won 20 games last season compiling seven shutouts, and is coming off being named A-Sun Pitcher of the Week.
The Golden Knights dropped a 6-1 decision to Florida in the Gold Bracket game of the Clearwater Invitational at the Eddie C. Moore Complex on Sunday afternoon.
The Gators put three runs on the board in the first inning. Stacie Pestrack was hit by a Lindsay Enders pitch, and was orginally ruled out by the first base umpire for leaning into the pitch. The home plate umpire overruled the orginal call awarding Pestrack first base.
Pestrack took advantage stealing second base, and Melissa Zick walked putting runners on first and second for Kristin Butler, who cleared the bases with a double. Butler advanced to third on a ground out by Lindsey Cameron.
The Gators pushed the advantage to 3-0 as Butler scored on a bang-bang play at the plate off an Enders wild pitch.
UCF responded stringing together back-to-back-to-back singles in the bottom half of the inning from the heart of the line-up. Amber Lamb picked up a RBI single scoring pinch runner Nicole Balogh to cut the Gator lead to 3-1.
Enders shut down Florida sitting down 10 of the next 11 batters, but the Golden Knights where unable to cut in the deficit.
The Gators added a run in the sixth, and two more runs in the seventh for the final margin.
"This was a heartbreaking loss for out girls because we know we can play with a team like Florida," head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said.
UCF opens with No. 5/7 LSU and No. 8/11 Michigan on Friday.