March 28, 2005
ORLANDO - The UCF softball team hosts defending Atlantic Sun champion Florida Atlantic at the UCF Softball Complex in a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 29 with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. The Golden Knights enter game one of the doubleheader 28-18-1 on the season, while the Lady Owls come in at 20-24.
Stephanie Best paces the offense with a .352 batting average and leads the Golden Knights with 45 hits, including 18 home runs and 39 RBI. She has a team-high slugging percentage of .813. Bryttani Lindheim is second on the team in batting average at .303 with 36 hits, nine of which are doubles and one home run. Jania Shinhoster is second on the team in hits with 39, while Crystle Krafft and Amber Lamb are tied for third with 38 hits apiece.
As a team, UCF is batting .266 with 30 home runs. The Golden Knights have three starters batting .300 or higher.
Lindsay Enders and Kelly McIntyre anchor the pitching staff with a combined record of 23-13. McIntyre is 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA, while Enders is 12-10 with a 2.42 ERA. Enders leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 114 as opponents are only hitting .199 against her.
The Golden Knights have a team ERA of 2.93 in 316 innings. The Black and Gold have given up 274 hits, while striking out 210.
Last time out, UCF split with Lipscomb on Tuesday in Orlando. The Golden Knights took game one, 4-2, and the Lady Bisons took game two, 1-0. Best led the Golden Knights, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, two runs, four RBI, eight total bases and three walks. Enders earned the win in the opening game in the circle for the Knights after pitching seven solid innings, giving up two runs on five hits, four walks and two strikeouts, while Ashley Baker picked up the loss in game two after giving up one run on five hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
Florida Atlantic is led offensively by Jessica Braggins. The Tampa native is batting .344 with four home runs, one triple and eight doubles. Braggins .344 average is 74 points higher than her career average of .270 entering the season. She also leads the Lady Owls in RBI (25), total bases (64), slugging percentage (.525) and on base percentage (.401).
As a team, Florida Atlantic is hitting .234 with 12 home runs. The Lady Owls have two starters batting .300 or higher.
Candice Freel leads the pitching staff in the circle with an 8-8 record and a 2.35 ERA. Freel has given up 48 runs on 94 hits, 38 walks and 113 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .229 against her.
The Lady Owls have a team ERA of 2.81 in 299 innings. Florida Atlantic has given up 314 hits, while striking out 210.
Last time out, Florida Atlantic split with Lipscomb on Friday in Boca Raton, Fla. The Lady Owls took game one, 6-0, and the Lady Bisons claimed game two, 1-0. Jessica Sachs led the Lady Owls after going 4-for-8 at plate with two RBI and one run scored. Meghan Doonan pitched seven innings in game one for the win, while Ashley Greene pitched seven innings in game two for the loss.
This will be the 12th time that UCF and Florida Atlantic have met on the softball diamond with the Lady Owls leading the series, 9-2. The last time that these two teams met was on May 15, 2004 in the championship game of the Atlantic Sun Tournament with FAU defeating the Knights, 1-0. Jennifer Whitley was 2-for-3 at the plate with two singles. Taylor Sawyer took the loss for the Black and Gold after giving up one run on seven hits and three walks.
Admission is free to all UCF softball games.