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April 1, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF softball team hosts the Belmont Bruins on Saturday at the UCF Softball Complex in a doubleheader with the first pitch slated for 2 p.m. The Golden Knights enter game one of the doubleheader 29-19-1 on the season and 2-2 in the Atlantic Sun, while the Bruins come in with a 9-17 mark on the season and 0-2 in the A-Sun.
Stephanie Best paces the offense with a .344 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 .794. Jania Shinhoster is second on the team in batting average at .302 with 42 hits, seven doubles and two home runs.
Lindsay Enders and Kelly McIntyre anchor the pitching staff with a combined record of 24-14. McIntyre is 11-4 with a 2.44 ERA, while Enders is 13-10 with a 1.83 ERA. Enders leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 121 as opponents are only hitting .199 against her.
In the Atlantic Sun statistics, UCF is tied for second in team fielding (.957), fourth in team pitching (2.27 ERA) and fifth in team batting (.264). Best and Shinhoster are among the top 10 in the conference for hits, while Best tops the league in home runs, walks (33), runs scored (34) and total bases (104). Best is also second in the A-Sun in RBI and third in on-base percentage (.476) and slugging percentage. Cici Alvarez has a conference-high 18 stolen bases, while Shinhoster is sixth with 11. Crystle Krafft ranks among the top 10 in home runs (6), triples (3), doubles (10), runs scored (24), RBI (28) and total bases (72). Enders leads in just about every pitching category in the league including wins (13), shutouts (5), innings pitched (168.2), appearances (30), games started (23) and complete games (20).
UCF split with Florida Atlantic on Tuesday in Orlando. The Golden Knights took game one, 4-1, while the Owls took game two, 3-2. Enders blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the first to give the Knights a 4-0 lead in game one. Enders also earned the win for the Knights in the circle. In game two, FAU took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth on two doubles, one triple and one walk. Shinhoster knocked a two-run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth to bring UCF to within one of the Owls.
Belmont is led offensively by Erin Mullen. The Cincinnati native is batting .403 with four home runs, one triple and 11 doubles. Mullen's .403 average is 131 points higher than her average last year of .272. She also leads the Bruins in runs (16), RBI (19), total bases (56), slugging percentage (.727) and on-base percentage (.459).
As a team, Belmont is hitting .231 with nine home runs.
Angie Hoeye leads the pitching staff in the circle with a 6-6 record and a 5.15 ERA. Hoeye has given up 51 runs on 64 hits, 42 walks and 58 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .242 against her.
The Bruins have a team ERA of 6.44 in 158 innings. Belmont has given up 202 hits, while striking out 90.
Belmont dropped two to Florida Atlantic Thursday evening in Boca Raton, Fla. The Owls took game one, 8-0 in six innings, and game two, 9-0 in five innings.
Erin Mullen led the Bruins at the plate after going 2-for-5. Angie Hoeye picked up the loss in game one for Belmont, while Jennifer Batte took the loss in game two.
This will be the seventh time that UCF and Belmont have met on the softball diamond with the Golden Knights leading the series, 6-0. The last time that these two teams met was on March 27, 2004 in Nashville, Tenn. with the Golden Knights defeating the Bruins, 8-0 and 18-7. Amber Lamb led the Black and Gold at the plate after going 4-for-5 with one home run, three singles, three runs and three RBI. McIntyre and Taylor Sawyer picked up the wins for the Knights in the circle.
Admission is free to all UCF softball games.