March 15, 2005
ORLANDO - Stephanie Best led UCF's offensive attack by going 3-for-3 on the afternoon as the Golden Knights split with Bradley University. The Braves took game one, 11-3 in five innings, while the Knights took game two, 3-2, giving head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie her 400th career win.
Best was 3-for-3 with two home runs, one single, three walks, three RBI and two runs, while Cat Snapp was second on the team going 4-for-5 with one double, three singles, one walk and one RBI and Crystle Krafft was 4-for-6 with four singles, one run and one RBI.
Bradley scored first in the second inning when Joanna Pettit led off with a single to leftfield. Angela Toures moved Pettit over to second when she hit a single up the middle. Trish Kowalewski knocked a three-run home run over the right field fence to make 3-0 in favor of the Braves with no outs. Kelly McIntyre followed the home run up with a strike-out, groundout and another strike-out.
UCF answered Bradley's big inning with one of their own when Krafft led off with a single up the middle. Snapp moved Krafft around to third on a double down the leftfield line. Nicole Balogh came in to run for Snapp. McIntyre helped her own cause out by plating one of the runs on a groundout to the shortstop. The Knights were unable to score Balogh's run from third and ended the inning with Bradley up, 3-1.
The Braves started things off again in the third inning when Molly Bergeson reached on an error advancing to second on the throw. She moved over to third on a wild pitch. McIntyre was replaced by Jennifer Tomasetti due to an injury. On a sac fly to centerfield, Bergeson scored the first run of the inning. Pettit singled to leftfield for Bradley followed by three walks and one hit batsman. Tomasetti struck out the final batter of the inning for the Braves. Bradley ended their half of the third inning up, 6-1.
The Golden Knights started to chip away at Bradley's 6-1 lead when Best led off with a solo home run over the rightfield fence. Amber Lamb followed the home run up with a walk. Lindsay Enders moved Lamb to second on a groundout to second. Krafft ran out an infield single to third moving Lamb over to third base. Snapp followed Krafft's hit with one of her own to leftfield, scoring Lamb. The inning ended with UCF down, 6-3.
Bradley started the fourth inning with Berguson grounding out to Krafft only to have Christine Cooney reach on an error and advance to second on the throw. Cooney moved to third on a single to leftfield by Brittany Mynsberge. Cooney and Mynsberge scored on the next play when Pettit doubled. The inning ended with Bradley up, 8-3.
In the top of the fifth inning, Bradley plated three more runs after Ashley Baker was able to get the first two batters out. Stephanie Ramsey walked for the first runner of the inning followed by a walk by Bergeson. Cooney advanced both runners 60 feet closer on an infield single to third base. With bases loaded, Mynsberge singled to right center scoring Ramsey and Bergeson and advanced Cooney to third. Pettit singled to center field scoring Cooney from third for the third run of the inning.
UCF tried to fight back in the fifth inning after Enders walked to lead-off. Krafft then singled to leftfield moving Enders to second. Snapp walked to load the bases for the Knights. Baker then flied out to shallow leftfield only to have Krafft picked off at second for the double-play. The game ended on a fly ball to right field in the bottom of the fifth with Bradley up, 11-3.
For the first game, UCF had three runs on nine hits with two errors, while Bradley had 11 runs on nine hits and no errors. Krafft was 3-for-3 at the plate with three singles, while Snapp was 2-for-2 with a single, a double and a walk and Best was also 2-for-2 with a home run, a single and a walk.
Game two started off similar to the way game one ended with Bradley continuing to hit. The Braves jumped out to an early lead after Bergeson reached on an infield single and then was moved to second on a sac bunt by Cooney. Pettit singled to leftfield moving Bergeson to third for the Braves. Toures followed Pettit's single up with one her own scoring Bergeson from third and advancing Pettit over to second. The Knights were able to escape the inning by only giving up one run on three hits.
UCF took the lead from Bradley in the bottom of the third when Best hit a two-run home run over the right center field scoring Bryttani Lindheim from second. Lindheim was on second after she singled to leftfield and then was moved over by Cici Alvarez who executed a sac bunt perfectly. The third inning ended with UCF leading, 2-1.
The Braves threatened in the top of the fifth when Holly Rogers singled to right field and then stole second. Bradley was unable to score Rogers from second.
The Knights plated one more run in the bottom of the fifth when Alvarez and Best walked and then advanced 60 feet closer when Lamb groundout to the shortstop. Alvarez scored on a single by Krafft to the second baseman. Krafft then stole second base to put runners on second and third for the Black and Gold. The inning ended with UCF up, 3-1.
Bradley fought back in the top of the seventh but was unable to take the lead back. Kowalewski reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw. Elizabeth Wilson knocked a single into leftfield moving Kowalewski to third. Shayna Bradford came in to pinch hit for Sarah Mancso and Ramsey came in to pinch run for Wilson. Bradford popped up to the Krafft at second. During the next at bat, Ramsey stole second. Rogers then grounded out to Krafft scoring Kowalewski from third. The game ended with Bergeson flying out to centerfield and UCF up, 3-2, for Luers-Gillispie's 400th career win.
For the second game, Best was 1-for-1 with a two-run home run and two walks, while Snapp was 2-for-3 with two singles.
"We can play better than what we showed in game one today," said Luers-Gillispie. "Lindsay Enders came in and pitched six great innings, shutting down Bradley's offense in game two."
The Knights return to the diamond on Friday when they host Charleston Southern at 1 p.m. on day one of the three day UCF Tournament.